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XTbe  "WnotlO  of  art  Series 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS  OF 
ANCIENT  EGYPT 


OLD  KINGDOM  RELIEF 


Wood -carving  ot  Ra-hesy 


tirtie  OTorlu  of  art  &ttit& 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS  OF 
ANCIENT  EGYPT 

WTM.' FLINDERS  PETRIE 

D.  C.  L.,  F.  R.  S.,  F.  B.  A.,  ETC.,  PROFESSOR  OF  EGYPTOLOGY 
IN  LONDON  UNIVERSITY;  AUTHOR  OF 
"A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT,"  ETC. 

CONTAINING  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FORTY  ILLUSTRATIONS 


CHICAGO 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

EDINBURGH:  T.  N.  FOULIS 
I9IO 


COPYRIGHTED  AND  PRINTED 
IN  GREAT  BRITAIN 

First  American  Edition,  September  24,  1910 


PREFACE 


This  present  handbook  is  intended  to  aid  in  the 
understanding  of  Egyptian  art,  and  the  illustrations 
and  descriptions  are  selected  for  that  purpose  only. 
The  history  of  the  art  would  require  a  far  greater 
range  of  examples,  in  order  to  illustrate  the  growth 
and  decay  of  each  of  the  great  periods  ;  whereas 
here  only  the  most  striking  works  of  each  period 
are  shown,  in  order  to  contrast  the  different  civilisa- 
tions. The  origins  and  connections  of  the  art  in 
each  age  are  scarcely  touched,  and  the  technical  de- 
tails are  only  such  as  are  needed  to  see  the  conditions 
of  the  art.  The  archaeology  of  the  subject  would 
need  as  wide  a  treatment  as  the  history,  and  these 
subjects  can  only  appear  here  incidentally. 

It  should  be  noticed  that  the  divisions  of  artistic 
periods  are  often  not  the  same  as  those  of  political 
history.  Politically,  the  history  divides  at  the 
XVI  Ith  dynasty  with  the  fall  of  the  Hyksos,  and 
at  the  XXIInd  dynasty  with  the  rise  of  the  Delta 

V 


PREFACE 


government.  But  artistically  the  changes  are  u  ider 
Tahutmes  I,  when  Syrian  influences  broke  in,  and 
under  the  XXV I th  dynasty,  when  the  classical 
Greeks  began  to  dominate  the  art. 

The  effect  of  foreign  influence  in  art  is  quite 
apart  from  political  power ;  it  is  due  to  rival  ac- 
tivities which  may  or  may  not  mean  a  physical 
domination.  The  reader  should  ponder  different 
cases,  such  as  those  of  the  spiral  design  of  early 
Europe  entering  Egypt,  of  the  Syrian  and  Cretan 
art  in  the  XVIIIth  dynasty,  of  the  effect  of  Persia 
upon  Greece,  and  of  Greece  upon  Italy  (both  through 
Magna  Graecia  and  the  conquest  of  Greece),  of  the 
effect  of  the  Goth,  Lombard,  and  Northman  on 
Europe,  and  of  Japan  on  modern  Europe.  Some 
reflection  on  these  great  artisticmovements  will  give 
a  little  insight  as  to  the  history  of  art. 

Regarding  the  illustrations,  I  have  thought  it 
more  useful  to  give  details  large  enough  to  be 
clearly  seen,  rather  than  to  contract  too  much  sur- 
face into  a  space  where  it  cannot  well  be  studied. 
Portions  of  subjects  are  therefore  often  preferred  to 
general  views  of  a  whole.  The  outlines  of  artistic 
value,  such  as  contours  of  faces  or  figures,  are  left 
quite  untouched,  as  an  outline  cannot  be  taken 
seriously  which  is  dependent  on  the  block-maker 

vi 


PREFACE 


clearing  a  white  or  black  ground.  This  latter  treat- 
ment, unfortunately,  puts  out  of  artistic  use  many  of 
the  lavishly  spaced  plates  of  the  Cairo  Catalogue, 
where  art  is  subjected  to  bibliophily.  The  liberal 
policy  of  all  publications  and  photographs  of  the 
Cairo  Museum  being  free  of  copyright,  has  enabled 
me  tc  use  many  of  the  excellent  untouched  photo- 
graphs of  Brugsch  Pasha  and  others.  My  best 
thanks  are  due  to  Freiherr  von  Bissing  and  the 
publisher  of  his  Denkmaeler  Aegypt,  Sculpture  for 
permission  to  use  figures  39,  44,  46,  48,  62,  1 1 1,  and 
112  from  that  work.  Over  a  third  of  the  illustra- 
tions here  are  from  my  own  photographs  not  yet 
published,  and  principally  taken  for  this  volume. 


W.  M.  F.  P. 


PERIODS  AND  KINGS  REFERRED  TO 
IN  THIS  VOLUME  i 


Period. 
Prehistoric. 

Early 
kings. 

Pyramid 
age  :  Old 
Kingdom. 


Middle 
Kingdom. 


Ethiopian. 
Saite. 

Ptolemies. 
Romans. 


Dynasty. 

I. 
II. 
III. 
IV. 
V. 
VI. 
IX. 
XI. 
XII. 


Names. 


B.C. 

8000-5500 
55C1O-54OO 

5000 
4900-4700 
4700-4500 
4400-4200 
4100-4000 
3800 
3500 
3400-3300 


New 
Kingdom. 


.  3300-3259 
3200 
1587-1562 

Hat-  1541-1481 


Narmer,  Mena,  Zer, 
Khasekhem,  . 
Zeser,  Senoferu, 
Khufu,  Khafra,  Menkaura, 
Noferarkara,  Unas, 
Pepyll,         .       .  . 
Khety,  .... 
AntefV,. 

Senusert  I,  Senusert  11,  Sen- 

usert  III, 
Amenemhat  III, 

XIII.  Hor,  

XVIII.  Aahmes,  Queens  Aah-hotep, 
Aahmes, 
Tahutmes  I,  Tahutmes  II 
shepsut, 

Tahutmes  III,  Amenhotep  II,  Ta-  1481-1414 
hutmes  IV, 

Amenhotep  III,  Akhenaten,  Tut-  1414-1344 
ankhamen, 

XIX.  Sety  I,  Ramessu  II,  Merenptah,    .  1326-1214 

Sety  II,  Tausert,   ....  12 14-1203 

XX.  Ramessu  III,  IV,  XII,  .       .       .  1202-1129 

XXI.  Isiemkheb,   1050 

XXII.  Shishak  kings,       ....  952-749 

XXIII.  Pedubast,  Pefaabast,      .       .       .  755-725 

XXV.  Amenardys,  Taharqa,  Tanutamen,  720-664 

XXVI.  Aahmes  II,   570-526 

XXX.  Nekhthorheb  (Nectanebo),    .       .  378-361 

Cleopatra  Cocce,    ....  130-106 

30-A.D.  640 

viii 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

1.  THE  CHARACTER  OF  EGYPTIAN  ART  .  .  -L. 

2.  THE  PERIODS  AND  SCHOOLS  .  .  .II 

3.  THE  STATUARY         .  .  .  .  .29 

4.  THE  RELIEFS  ....  48 

5.  THE  PAINTING  AND  DRAWING  .  .  -55 

6.  THE  ARCHITECTURE       '        .  .  .  .62 

7.  THE  STONE-WORKING  .  .  .  .69 

8.  JEWELLERY  ...... 

9.  METAL  WORK  .  .  .  .  .98 

10.  GLAZED  WARE  AND  GLASS  .  .  .  .  IO7 

11.  THE  POTTERY  .  .  .  .  .  I26 

12.  IVORY-WORKING        .  .  .  .  .  I34 

13.  WOODWORK.  .....  137 

14.  PLASTER  AND  STUCCO  ....  142 

15.  CLOTHING    ......  147 

ix 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fig.  Dynasty.  Subject. 
Scenery. 

1  XVIII  Temple  below  cliffs. 

2  ...      Palms  and  canal. 
Periods, 

3  Prehist.  Dog  and  deer. 

4  ,,      Bull  and  enemy. 

5  IV     Servant  of  Ainofer. 

6  XII    Senusert  I. 

7  XVIII  Servant  of  Khaemhat. 

8  XIX    Sons  of  Ramessu  II. 

9  XXVI  Aahmes-si-neit-rannu. 

10  Ptolem.  Cleopatra  Cocce. 

Schools, 

11  XIX   Ramessu  II. 

12 
13 

Sculpture, 

15  Prehist.  Female  figure. 

16  „  . 

17  ,,      Male  heads. 

18  Lion. 

19,  20  I      Narmer  ?  head ;  sculptor 
study. 


Material.        Source.  Position.  Page. 


Limestone. 

Deir  el 

Thebes. 

4 

Bahri. 

Illahun. 

Fayum. 

Ivory 

I 

P<:»fv^p  Poll 

14 

olalc. 

Louvre. 

J5 

Limestone. 

Saqqareh. 

Cairo  Mus. 

i  > 

J5 

Memphis. 

Carlsberg  M. 

i  J 

J  > 

Tomb. 

Thebes. 

20 

Sandstone. 

Luqsor. 

Cambridge. 

5? 

Limestone. 

Memphis. 

3  J 

Sandstone. 

Kom  Ombo. 

Black 

Eastern 

Turin. 

24 

granite. 

desert. 

Hard  lime- 

Memphis. 

Memphis. 

J  > 

stone. 

Red  granite. 

Aswan. 

Thebes. 

j> 

Sandstone. 

Nubia. 

Abu  Simbel. 

>i 

Ivory. 

? 

Petrie  Coll. 

30 

Limestone, 

Naqadeh. 

Oxford  Mus. 

91 

Ivory. 

} 

Petrie  Coll. 

5  > 

Limestone. 

? 

if 

>  J 

J  > 

? 

>> 

32 

xi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fig. 

Dynasty. 

Subject. 

Material. 

Source. 

Position. 

Page. 

Sculpture — 

continued. 

2 1 

T 
1 

King  standing. 

Ivory. 

Abydos. 

British  Mus. 

22 

TT 

Head  of  Kha-sekhem. 

Limestone. 

Hierakon- 
polis. 

Oxford  Mus. 

III 

Head  of  Mertitefs. 

? 

Leyden  Mus. 

33 

24 

Head  of  Nofert. 

Wood. 

Medum. 

Cairo  Mus. 

25 

TV 

i  V 

Head  of  Ka-aper. 

Saqqareh. 
Gizeh. 

> » 

Z\) 

Female  figure. 

Wood. 

27 

>> 

Khafra. 

Diorite. 

34 

28 

Head  of  Khafra. 

Cast. 

Saqqareh. 

Louvre. 

2Q 

V 

Scribe  seated. 

Limestone. 

35 

30 

}} 

Family  of  Khui. 

Cairo  Mus. 

31 

) » 

Ranofer. 

LishL' 

38 

32 

Head  of  Senusert  I. 

33 

Senusert  III. 

Red  granite. 

Karnak. 

34 

Sphinx. 

Black 
granite. 

Tanis. 

35 

VTT 
A-ii 

,,      Amenemhat  III. 

Grey 

? 

Univ.  Coll., 

granite. 

Lond. 

3^ 

YVTTT 
-A.  V  ill 

statue. 

Quartzite. 

Thebes. 

Cairo  Mus. 

42 

37 

>  5 

Tahutmes  III. 

Basalt. 

Karnak. 

3^ 

> ) 

, ,  Tut-ankh-amen. 

Grey 

granite. 

39 

>  5 

Akhenaten. 

Limestone. 

Thebes. 

Louvre. 

40 

>  J 

Young  negress. 

Ebony. 

? 

Petrie  Coll. 

43 

41 

>  J 

Girl  on  tray  handle. 

Wood. 

? 

Louvre. 

42 

Girl  playing  lute. 

Sedment. 

Univ.  Coll. , 

Lond. 

43 

XIX 

Head  of  Ramessu  II. 

Black  ^ 

Thebes. 

Turin  Mus. 

44 

granite. 

44 

>  J 

,,  Bakenkhonsu. 

Hard  lime- 

Munich Mus. 

>  > 

stone. 

45 

>) 

, ,  Merenptah. 

Black 
granite. 

Cairo  Mus. 

46 

XXV 

, ,  Taharqa. 

Black 
granite. 

47 

J) 

, ,  Amenardys. 

Alabaster. 

Karnak. 

J  > 

46 

48 

Mentu-em-hat. 

Black 

>  1 

granite. 

49 

XXX 

man  (cast). 

Basalt. 

Memphis. 

Berlin  Mus. 

} ) 

50 

Ptol. 

woman  (coffin). 

Wood. 

? 

5  5 

Reliefs, 

51    Prehist.  Hyaena  and  calf.  Limestone.  Koptos.      Cairo  Mus.  48 

xii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fig.    Dynasty.  Subject. 
Reliefs—  continued . 
52  Prehist.  Gazelles  and  palms. 


53 

54 

55 
56 
57 

58 

59 


III 

V 


XI 
XII 


Group  of  animals. 

Narmer  and  enemy. 

Rahesy,  half  length. 
Sacrificing  bull. 
Oxherd. 

Toilet  of  princess. 


Material. 

Slate. 


Wood. 
Limestone. 


Heads  of  Ptah  and  Sen- 
usert  I. 
60    XVIII  Hatshepsut. 


61  Servant  of  Khaemhat. 

62  Akhenaten  and  queen. 

63  XX    Bulls  in  marsh.  Sandstone. 

64  XXVI  Youths  and  girls   with  Limestone. 

animals. 

Paintings. 

65  Prehist.  Men  fighting,  vase.  Pottery. 

66  Ship,  vase.  ,, 

67  Ship,  tomb.  Fresco. 

68  III     Geese  walking.  ,, 

69  XVIII  Pelicans  and  keeper. 


Source, 
? 

Hierakon- 

polis. 
Hierakon- 

polis. 
Saqqareh. 
Ty  tomb. 
Ptah-ho- 

tep  tomb. 
Deir  el 

Bahri. 
Karnak. 

Deir  el 
Bahri. 
Tomb. 
? 

Medinet, 
Habu. 
Memphis. 


Position.  Page. 

Oxford  and  48 

Louvre. 
Oxford  Mus. 

Cairo  Mus. 

, ,  Front, 
Saqqareh.        5 1 


Cairo  Mus.  52 


Thebes.  53 


BerUn  Mus. 
Thebes.  54 

Cairo  Mus. 


70 

71 
72 

73 

74 

75 
76 


Gleaning  girls. 

Harvesters. 

Pattern  in  stages. 

Boating  scene. 

Guests  and  girl. 

Girl  somersaulting. 
Young  princesses. 


Limestone. 
Fresco. 

xiii 


?         Petrie  Coll.  56 
?         Cairo  Mus,  ,, 
Hierakon- 

polls. 
Medum.  ,, 
Horemheb  Thebes.  57 

tomb. 
Menna 
tomb. 

Nekht  „ 
tomb. 

Amenmes       , ,  58 

tomb. 
Menna 

tomb. 
Nekht 

tomb. 

Thebes  ?     Turin  Mus.  59 
Tell-el-       Oxford  Mus. 
Amarna. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fig.  Dynasty.  Subject. 
Paintings — continued. 

77  XVIII  Man  hauling  rope. 

78  Four  races. 

79  XIX    Man  adoring. 

80  , ,      Sety  I  offering  to  Osiris. 

Architecture, 

81  IV     Temple  of  Khafra. 

82  XX  „       Ramessu  III. 

83  Ptolem.  Temple  of  Ergamenes. 

84  V      Palm  column,  Unas. 

85  Rose  lotus"  capital. 

86  Blue  lotus  capital. 


Material. 


Fresco. 


Source. 


Amenmes 
tomb. 
Rock  wall.  Rames 
tomb. 

Limestone.  Thebes. 
Rock  pillar.  Tomb  of 
Sety  I. 

Red  granite.  Gizeh. 
Sandstone.  Medinet 
Habu. 
Dakkeh. 
Red  granite.  Saqqareh. 
Limestone. 

, ,  Abusir. 


Position. 
Thebes. 


Cairo  Mus. 
Thebes. 


Thebes. 

Nubia. 
Cairo  Mus. 


Page. 
60 


66 


67 


Stone  working, 

87     Pre-    Stone  vases.  Various.  Various. 

XVIII 

XVIII  Trial  piece,  king's  head.   Limestone.  Thebes. 


89 


Figure  in  first  outlines. 


90  Ptolem.  Lion's  head  in  outlines. 

91  XVIII?  Man's  head,  unfinished. 

92  Prehist.  Flint  knives,  etc. 


Rock- 
crystal. 
Limestone. 

Chert! 


? 


Jfewellery, 
93  I 

VI 


XII 


94 
95 
96 

97 
98 

99 
100 


lOI 

102  XVIII 


Bracelets,  gold,  turquoise.  Amethyst. 

Chain.  Gold. 
Seal  with  hawk  heads.  ,, 
Uraeus,  wire  work.  ,, 
Pectoral  of  Senusert  II.  ,, 

„    m.  „ 

Inlaid  crown  of  Khnumt.  Gold  and 
stones. 
Gold  and 

stones. 
Gold. 
Gold  and 

lazuli, 
xiv 


Floret      ,,  ., 

Granulated  work. 
Bracelet  of  Aahmes. 


Thebes. 

Naqadeh, 
etc. 


Tomb  of 
Zer. 

Mahasnah. 
? 

? 

Dahshur. 


Thebes. 


78 

Petrie  Coll.  77 
9) 

>)  } ) 

80 

Cairo  Mus.  86 

Petrie  Coll.  i' 
Cairo  Mus.  88 
90 

92 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fig.    Dynasty.  Subject. 
Jewelleiy — continued. 

103  XVIII  Dagger  of  Aahmes. 

104  Axe  of  Aahmes. 

105  XIX    Pectoral  of  Ramessu  II. 

106  XX    Earringsof  Ramessu  XII. 

107  XXV  Statuette  of  Hershefi. 

108  XXVI  ?  Bowls  from  temple. 

109  Rom.  ?  Chain  fastening. 

Metal -working. 

no      VI     Head  of  prince. 

111  XXV?  Bust  of  Takushet. 

112  ,,  ,,  side. 

113  XVIII  Flask  of  sandal  washer. 

114  XIX    Fluted  vases. 

115  XXII?  Anti-splash  bowl. 

Glaze  ana  Glass, 

116  I       Inlaid  glazes  of  Mena. 

1 1 7  XX    Lotus  and  grape  border. 

118  XXVI  Headoflsis. 

119  Royal  fan-bearer. 

120  XVIII  Dragged  pattern  vase. 

121 

122  Ptol.    Coloured  mosaics. 

Ivory, 

123  IV  Khufu. 

124  VI?    Girl  standing. 

125  XXVI  Lotus  flower. 

126  Man  with  offerings. 

Wood. 

127  XVIII  Bracing  of  chair. 


Material.  Source.          Position.  Page. 

Gold  and  Thebes     Cairo  Mus.  92 
bronze. 

Gold  and  ,,  ,, 
bronze. 

Gold  and  Saqqareh.  Louvre.  94 
stones. 

Gold.  Abydos.     Cairo  Mus. 

Ehnasya.    Boston  Mus. 

Silver.  Mendes.     Cairo  Mus.  96 

Gold.  ?  PetrieColl. 


Copper.       Hierakon-  Cairo  Mus.  100 
polls. 

Gold    in  ?        Athens  Mus. 

bronze. 

? 

Bronze.  ?         Petrie  Coll.  loi 

,,  Abydos.     Cairo  Mus. 

Silver.         Bubastis.    Petrie  Coll. 


Green  and  Abydos.  Brit.  Mus. 
violet  glaze. 

Coloured     Yehudiyeh.  Cairo  Mus. 
glaze. 


108 


Blue  glaze. 
>  > 

Coloured 
glass. 

n 

Glass. 


Petrie  Coll. 
British  Mus. 

Petrie  Coll. 


Ivory, 


Wood. 
XV 


Abydos.     Cairo  Mus.  136 

?  Petrie  Coll. 
Memphis.  Edin.  Mus. 


Tomb  of  Cairo  Mus.  138 
Yuaa. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fig.    Dynasty.  Subject. 

Wood — continued. 
128    XVIII  Chair  of  Sitamen 


Coffer  of  Amenhotep  III. 
Couch  of  Yuaa. 


129 
130 
131 


Plaster. 

132  XVIII  Reliefs  on  chariot. 

133  Ptol.    Lion's  head,  casting. 

134  King's  head,  casting. 

135  Roman.  Man's  head  from  coffin. 
136 


^37 
138 


Woman's  head  from  coffin. 
Man's  head  and  skull. 


Clothing, 

139    XVIII  Woven  patterns,  Amen- 
hotep II. 


140 


Cut-out  network. 


Material.         Source.  Position.  Page. 

Wood.         Temb  of    Cairo  Mus.  138 

Yuaa. 
Wood  in  laid.  ,, 

JJ  >>  >>  >> 

Wood. 


Stucco  on     Tomb  of  Cairo  Mus.  144 

wood.  Tahutmes. 

Plaster.  ?  Petrie  Coll. 

? 

?  .    »,  146 

Kom  el  Cairo  Mus. 
Ahmar. 

?  Petrie  Coll. 

,,  Hu.  British  Mus. 


Thread.        Tomb  of   Cairo  Mus.  148 
Tahutmes 
IV. 

Leather.  „ 


Arts  and  Crafts  of  Ancient 
Egypt 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  CHARACTER  OF  EGYPTIAN  ART 

The  art  of  a  country,  like  the  character  of  the  in- 
habitants, belongs  to  the  nature  of  the  land.  The 
climate,  the  scenery,  the  contrasts  of  each  country, 
all  clothe  the  artistic  impulse  as  diversely  as  they 
clothe  the  people  themselves.  A  burly,  florid  Teu- 
ton in  hisfurs  and  jewellery,  anda  lithe  brown  Indian 
in  his  waist-cloth,  would  each  look  entirely  absurd 
in  the  other's  dress.  There  is  no  question  of  which 
dress  is  intrinsically  the  best  in  the  world ;  each  is 
relatively  the  best  for  its  bwn  conditions,  and  each 
is  out  of  place  in  other  conditions.  So  it  is  with 
art :  it  is  the  expression  of  thought  and  feeling  in 

I 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


harmony  with  its  own  conditions.  The  only  bad 
art  is  that  which  is  mechanical,  where  the  impulse 
to  give  expression  has  decayed,  and  it  is  reduced 
to  mere  copying  of  styles  and  motives  which  do 
not  belong  to  its  actual  conditions.  An  age  of  copy- 
ing is  the  only  despicable  age. 

It  is  but  a  confusion  of  thought,  therefore,  to  try 
to  pit  the  art  of  one  country  against  that  of  another. 
A  Corinthian  temple,  a  Norman  church,  or  a 
Chinese  pavilion  are  each  perfect  in  their  own  con- 
ditions ;  but  if  the  temple  is  of  Aberdeen  granite, 
the  church  of  Pacific  island  coral,  and  the  pavilion 
amid  the  Brighton  downs,  they  are  each  of  them 
hopelessly  wrong.  To  understand  any  art  we  must 
first  begin  by  grasping  its  conditions,  and  feeling 
the  contrasts,  the  necessities,  the  atmosphere,  which 
underlie  the  whole  terms  of  expression. 

Now  the  essential  conditions  in  Egypt  are  before 
all,  an  overwhelming  sunshine  ;  next,  the  strongest 
of  contrasts  between  a  vast  sterility  of  desert  and 
the  most  prolific  verdure  of  the  narrow  plain  ;  and 
thirdly,  the  illimitable  level  lines  of  the  cultivation, 
of  the  desert  plateau,  and  of  the  limestone  strata, 
crossed  by  the  vertical  precipices  on  either  hand 
risinof  hundreds  of  feet  without  a  break.  In  such 
conditions  the  architecture  of  other  lands  would 

2 


CHARACTER  OF  EGYPTIAN  ART 


look  weak  or  tawdry.  But  the  style  of  Egypt  never 
fails  in  all  its  varieties  and  changes. 

The  brilliancy  of  light  led  to  adopting  an  archi- 
tecture of  blank  walls  without  windows.  The  re- 
flected light  through  open  doorways  was  enough  to 
show  most  interiors  ;  and  for  chambers  far  from  the 
outer  door,  a  square  opening  about  six  inches  each 
way  in  the  roof,  or  a  slit  along  the  wall  a  couple  of 
inches  high,  let  in  sufficient  light.  The  results  of 
this  system  were,  that  as  the  walls  were  not  divided 
by  structural  features,  they  were  dominated  by  the 
scenes  that  were  carved  upon  them.  The  wall 
surface  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  part  of  a  building, 
and  became  an  expansion  of  the  papyrus  or  tablet. 
The  Egyptian  belief  in  the  magical  value  of  repre- 
sentations led  to  the  figuring  of  the  various  parts 
of  the  worship  on  the  walls  of  the  temples  or  tombs, 
so  that  the  divine  service  should  be  perpetually  re- 
newed in  figure  ;  and  thus  what  we  see  is  not  so 
much  a  building  in  the  ordinary  sense,  as  an  illus- 
trated service-book  enclosing  the  centre  of  worship. 
Another  result  of  the  fierce  indirect  light  was  that 
which  dominated  sculpture.  The  reliefs,  beautiful 
as  they  often  were,  would  not  be  distinct  in  the 
diffuse  facing  light ;  hence  strong  colouring  was  ap- 
plied to  render  them  clear  and  effective.   So  much 

3 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


did  colouring  take  the  lead  that  the  finest  sculptures 
were  often  smothered  in  a  stucco  facing,  laid  on  to 
receive  the  colour.  This  almost  spiteful  ignoring 
of  the  delicate  craft  of  the  sculptor  is  seen  in  the 
Xllth  dynasty,  and  was  the  ruling  method  in  Ptole- 
maic work. 

The  extreme  contrast  between  the  desert  and 
the  cultivation  gave  its  tone  to  the  artistic  sense  of 
the  people.  On  either  hand,  always  in  sight,  there 
rose  the  margin  of  the  boundless  waste  without  life 
or  verdure,  the  dreaded  region  of  evil  spirits  and 
fierce  beasts,  the  home  of  the  nomads  that  were 
always  ready  to  swoop  on  unprotected  fields  and 
cattle,  if  they  did  not  sit  down  on  the  borders  and 
eat  up  the  country.  Between  these  two  expanses 
of  wilderness  lay  the  narrow  strip  of  richest  earth, 
black,  wet,  and  fertile  under  the  powerful  sun ;  teem- 
ing with  the  force  of  life,  bearing  the  greenest  of 
crops,  as  often  in  the  year  as  it  could  be  watered. 
In  parts  may  be  seen  three  full  crops  of  corn  or 
beans  raised  each  year  beneath  the  palms  that  also 
give  their  annual  burden  of  fruit ;  fourfold  does  the 
rich  ground  yield  its  ever-growing  stream  of  life. 

This  exuberance  amid  absolute  sterility  is  re- 
flected in  the  proportion  between  the  minuteness 
of  detail  and  the  vastness  of  the  architecture.  The 

4 


SCENERY 


1.  The  barren  desert  background 

2.  The  luxuriance  of  the  plain 


CHARACTER  OF  EGYPTIAN  ART 


most  gigantic  buildings  may  have  their  surfaces 
crowded  with  delicate  sculpture  and  minute  colour- 
ing. What  would  be  disproportionate  elsewhere, 
seems  in  harmony  amid  such  natural  contrasts. 

The  strongly  marked  horizontal  and  vertical  lines 
of  the  scenery  condition  the  style  of  buildings  that 
can  be  placed  before  such  a  background.  As  the 
temples  were  approached,  the  dominant  line  was 
the  absolute  level  of  the  green  plain  of  the  Nile 
valley,  without  a  rise  or  slope  upon  it.  Behind 
the  building  the  sky  line  was  the  level  top  of  the 
desert  plateau,  only  broken  by  an  occasional  valley, 
but  with  never  a  peak  rising  above  it.  And  the 
face  of  the  cliffs  that  form  the  stern  setting  is 
ruled  across  with  level  lines  of  strata,  which  rise 
in  a  step-like  background  or  a  wall  lined  across  as 
with  courses  of  masonry.  The  weathering  of  the 
cliffs  breaks  up  the  walls  of  rock  into  vertical  pillars 
with  deep  shadows  between  them.  In  the  face 
of  such  an  overwhelming  rectangular  framing  any 
architecture  less  massive  and  square  than  that  of 
Egypt  would  be  hopelessly  defeated.  The  pedi- 
ments of  Greece,  the  circular  arches  of  Rome,  the 
pointed  arches  of  England,  would  all  seem  crushed 
by  so  stern  a  setting.  The  harmony  is  shown 
most  clearly  in  the  temple  of  Deir  el  Bahri  (fig.  i) 

5 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


below  its  cliffs  which  overshadow  it.  Let  any  other 
kind  of  building  be  set  there,  and  it  would  be  an 
impertinent  intrusion  ;  the  long  level  lines  of  the 
terraces  and  roofs,  the  vertical  shadows  of  the 
colonnades,  repose  in  perfect  harmony  with  the 
mass  of  Nature  around  them.  The  Egyptian  was 
quite  familiar  with  the  arch  :  he  constantly  used  it 
in  brickwork  on  a  large  scale,  and  he  imitated  its 
curve  in  stone  ;  yet  he  always  hid  it  in  his  building, 
and  kept  it  away  from  the  external  forms,  instinc- 
tively knowing  that  it  could  not  serve  any  part  of 
his  decorative  construction. 

These  principles,  which  were  thus  imposed  on  the 
architecture  of  Egypt,  were  doubly  enforced  upon 
its  sculpture.  Not  only  did  Nature  set  the  fram- 
ing of  plain  and  cliff,  but  her  work  was  reflected 
and  reiterated  by  the  massive  walls,  square  pillars, 
and  flat  architraves,  amid  which  Egyptian  sculpture 
had  to  take  its  place.  In  such  shrines  it  would  be 
disastrously  incongruous  to  place  a  Victory  poising 
on  one  foot,  or  a  dancing  faun.  They  belong  to 
the  peaks  of  Greece,  divided  by  rushing  streams, 
and  clothed  with  woods, — to  a  transient  world  of 
fleeting  beauty,  not  to  a  landscape  and  an  archi- 
tecture of  eternity.  Egyptian  art,  however  luxuri- 
ous, however  playful  it  might  be,  was  always  framed 

6 


CHARACTER  OF  EGYPTIAN  ART 


on  a  tacit  groundwork  of  its  natural  conditions. 
Within  those  conditions  there  was  scope  for  most 
vivid  portraiture,  most  beautiful  harmony,  most  deli- 
cate expression,  but  the  Egyptian  was  wise  enough 
to  know  his  conditions  and  to  obey  them.  In  that 
obedience  lay  his  greatness. 

The  truest  analysis  of  art — that  of  Tolstoy — 
results  in  defining  it  as  a  means  of  communicat- 
ing emotion.  It  may  be  the  emotion  produced  by 
beauty  or  by  loathsomeness  ;  each  expression  is 
equally  art,  though  each  is  not  equally  desirable  art. 
The  emotion  may  be  imparted  by  words,  by  forms, 
by  sounds;  all  are  equally  vehicles  of  different  kinds 
of  art.  But  without  imparting  an  emotional  per- 
ception to  the  mind  there  is  no  art.  The  emotion 
may  be  the  highest,  that  of  apprehending  character, 
and  the  innate  meaning  of  mind  and  of  Nature  ;  or 
it  may  be  the  lower  form  of  sharing  in  the  tran- 
sient interests  and  excitements  of  others;  or  the 
basest  form  of  all,  that  of  enjoying  their  evil.  How 
does  the  Egyptian  appear  under  this  analysis  ? 
What  emotions  can  we  consider  were  intended  by 
his  art  ?  How  far  did  he  succeed  in  imparting  them 
to  the  spectators  ? 

To  understand  the  mind  of  the  artist  we  must 
look  to  those  qualities  which  in  their  literature 

7 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


were  held  up  as  the  ideals  of  life.  Stability  and 
Strength  were  the  qualities  most  admired,  and  the 
name  for  public  monuments  was  ''firm  things.'^ 
Assuredly  all  mankind  has  looked  on  the  works  of 
Egypt  as  giving  a  sense  of  these  qualities  before 
all  others.  Closely  connected  is  the  sense  of  En- 
durance, which  was  enjoined  in  words,  and  carried 
into  practice  in  the  laborious  work  on  the  hardest 
rocks.  It  was  for  endurance  that  statues  were  made 
of  diorite  or  granite,  though  they  were  painted  with 
life-like  hues,  so  that  their  material  was  scarcely 
seen.  Upon  these  primary  qualities  was  built  a 
rich  and  varied  character,  reflected  in  the  elaborate 
and  beautiful  sculpture  which  covered,  but  never 
interfered  with,  the  grand  mass  of  a  monument. 
Truth  and  Justice  were  qualities  much  sought  for 
in  life,  and  were  expressed  by  the  artist  in  the 
reality  of  his  immense  blocks  of  stone,  often  more 
hidden  than  seen,  and  in  the  fair  and  even  bearing 
of  all  material,  without  any  tricks  or  paradoxes 
of  structure.  In  all  his  earlier  work  his  monolith 
columns  and  pillars  were  a  protest  that  a  structural 
unit  must  express  unity,  that  what  supports  others 
must  not  be  in  itself  divided.  The  Discipline  and 
Harmony  which  were  looked  on  as  the  bond  of 
social  life  are  shown  by  the  subordination  of  the 

8 


CHARACTER  OF  EGYPTIAN  ART 


whole,  by  the  carrying  out  of  single  schemes  of 
decoration  illustrating  the  use  of  every  part  of  a 
building  on  all  its  walls,  by  the  balance  of  the  pro- 
portions of  the  whole  so  that  there  seems  a  perfect 
fitness  of  connection  through  all  parts.  And  the 
happy  union  of  vigorous  Action  with  prudent  Re- 
serve, which  showed  the  wise  man  in  the  proverbs, 
is  the  basis  of  those  life-like  scenes  which  cover  the 
walls  of  the  tombs,  but  which  never  betray  the 
artist  into  attempting  impossibilities  or  revealing 
too  much. 

As  true  art,  then — that  is,  the  expression  of  his 
being,  and  the  communication  to  others  of  his  best 
feelings  and  sense  of  things — the  Egyptian  work 
must  stand  on  the  highest  plane  of  reality.  It  would 
have  been  a  falsehood  to  his  nature  to  aspire,  as 
a  Gothic  architect  sometimes  did,  in  towers  and 
pinnacles  which  crush  their  foundations  and  will 
not  hold  together  without  incongruous  bonds.  Nor 
did  he  wish  to  express  the  romantic  sense  of  beauty, 
in  structure  which  may  tend  to  exceed  the  limits 
of  stability.  All  that  belongs  to  the  atmosphere  of 
troubadours  and  knights  errant.  The  Egyptian  pos- 
sessed in  splendid  perfection  the  sense  of  Strength, 
Permanence,  Majesty,  Harmony,  and  effective  Ac- 
tion, tempered  with  a  sympathy  and  kindliness 

9 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


which  cemented  a  vast  disciplined  fabric.  And 
these  aims  of  life  as  a  whole  he  embodied  and  ex- 
pressed in  his  art,  with  a  force  and  truth  which 
has  impressed  his  character  on  all  who  look  on  his 
works.  He  fulfils  the  canon  of  true  art  as  com- 
pletely as  any  race  that  has  come  after  him. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  PERIODS  AND  SCHOOLS 

Before  we  can  understand  any  art  the  first  step  is 
to  discriminate  between  the  different  periods  and 
their  various  styles,  and  to  observe  the  character- 
istics of  the  several  schools.  If  we  consider  medi- 
eval architecture,  we  separate  the  many  periods  from 
Saxon  to  Renaissance;  if  we  turn  to  painting,  we  dis- 
tinguish many  stages  between  Cimabue  and  Cana- 
letto,  yet  these  variations  belong  but  to  a  single 
revolution  of  civilisation,  and  are  comprised  within 
some  centuries ;  in  Egyptian  art  we  have  to  deal 
with  seven  revolutions  of  civilisation  and  thou- 
sands of  years.  And  not  only  the  period,  but  also 
the  source  and  traditions  of  each  local  branch  of 
the  art  are  to  be  recognised,  and  we  discriminate 
a  dozen  schools  of  painting  between  Rome  and 
Venice,  each  with  its  own  style.  So  in  Egypt  we 
need  to  learn  the  various  schools  and  understand 

II 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


their  differences.  In  this  chapter  we  shall  notice 
the  essential  characters  of  each  period  and  school 
as  compared  together ;  while  in  the  following  chap- 
ters the  more  technical  detail  of  the  statuary,  reliefs, 
and  paintings  will  be  considered. 

In  order  to  grasp  more  readily  the  differences  of 
period  and  of  place,  there  are  given  here  eight 
typical  examples  of  different  periods  (figs.  3  to  10), 
and  four  examples  of  different  schools  during  one 
reign  (figs.  1 1  to  14).  These  may  be  supplemented 
by  reference  to  subsequent  illustrations,  but  the  con- 
trasts will  be  more  readily  seen  in  a  simultaneous 
view. 

The  Prehistoric  w^ork  (8000-5500  B.C.)  shows 
much  more  mechanical  than  artistic  ability.  The 
treatment  of  the  hardest  materials  was  masterful; 
granite  and  porphyry  were  wrought  as  freelyaslime- 
stone  and  alabaster;  perfectly  regular  forms  of  vases 
were  cut  entirely  by  hand  without  any  lathe.  But 
with  this  there  was  a  very  tentative  idea  of  animate 
forms.  The  feet  and  hands  were  omitted,  and  limbs 
ended  only  in  points.  The  form  of  an  outline  was 
not  thought  to  imply  a  solid,  and  it  needed  to  be 
hatched  over  w^ith  cross  lines  (fig.  3)  to  show  that  it 
was  a  continuous  body.  The  noses  of  animals  are 
frequently  shown  touching,  as  in  this  instance  of  the 

12 


THE  PERIODS  AND  SCHOOLS 


dog  and  addax.  I  n  short,  the  figures  are  mere  sym- 
bols of  ideas,  with  little  regard  to  their  actual  nature 
and  appearance.  This  symbolic  stage  of  art  is  found 
in  most  countries,  and  often  with  a  higher  sense  of 
form  and  expression  than  among  the  prehistoric 
people  of  the  Nile ;  there  is  nothing  of  this  age  in 
Egypt  to  compare  with  the  carvings  of  the  cave  men 
of  Europe. 

There  is  no  sign  of  progress  in  art  during  this 
time.  The  slate  palettes,  cut  in  the 
forms  of  animal  outlines,  which  were  V  ^  /^'^ 
made  through  the  whole  age,  begin  \^  ^"''^^ 
with  recognisable  forms  ;  and  these  ^ — ^  ^ 
were  deg^raded  by  copying^,  until  at  ^ — 

11.  .    .      /      ^  Early.  Late. 

the  end  their  original  types  could 
hardly  be  guessed.  The  animal  figures  on  ivory 
combs  are  passable  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  age, 
and  disappear  entirely  later  on.  The  human  figures, 
which  are  frequent  in  early  times,  are  very  rarely 
found  later.  The  flint  working  shows  degeneration 
long  before  historic  times.  And  the  pottery  loses 
its  fine  forms,  regularity,  and  brilliant  finish,  and 
becomes  rough  and  coarse.  In  every  direction  it 
seems  that  the  earliest  prehistoric  civilisation,  which 
was  probably  connected  with  Libya,  was  superseded 
by  a  lower  race,  which  was  probably  from  the  East. 

13 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


The  first  dynasty  (5500  B.C.)  appears  to  have 
brought  in  entirely  new  influences.  While  the  ma- 
terial civilisation  naturally  went  on  with  many  of 
the  older  elements,  yet  in  all  directions  a  new  spirit 
and  moving  power  is  seen.  The  conquest  of  the 
country  by  a  race  of  invaders  is  shown  on  many 
carvings,  most  of  which  are  probably  of  the  three 
centuries  of  unification,  before  the  start  of  the  dy- 
nastic history  of  the  whole  country.  One  of  the 
most  typical  of  these  carvings  is  fig.  4,  where  the 
king  is  represented  as  a  bull  trampling  upon  his 
enemy.   Other  examples  are  given  in  figs.  5 1  to  54. 

The  whole  character  of  the  art  is  changed.  In- 
stead of  the  clumsy  and  spiritless  figures  of  the  pre- 
historic people,  we  meet  with  vigorous  forms  full 
of  life  and  character.  Perhaps  one  of  the  earliest 
is  the  hyaena  (fig.  51);  the  slates  are  rather  later, 
reaching  down  to  the  beginning  of  the  first  dynasty  ; 
and  the  figures  in  the  round  (19  to  22)  show  what 
a  living  and  powerful  art  had  suddenly  sprung  up 
and  was  developed  under  the  early  kings.  The 
same  growth  is  seen  in  the  advance  of  glazing  for 
important  architectural  use  on  a  large  scale.  And 
the  introduction  and  rapid  development  of  hiero- 
glyphic writing  stamps  the  new  age  as  the  begin- 
ning of  written  history,  the  start  of  the  conscious 

14 


THE  PERIODS  OF  ART 


3.  Prehistoric 

5.  Old  Kingdom  (IV) 


4.  Earliest  dynastic 

6.  Middle  Kingdom  (XII) 


THE  PERIODS  AND  SCHOOLS 


preservation  by  man  of  a  regular  record  of  his  past 
acts. 

This  new  growth  of  art  rejoiced  in  its  fresh  found 
powers.  It  searched  for  the  truth,  it  carefully  ob- 
served anatomy,  and — like  a  learner — it  was  proud 
of  its  knowledge,  and  emphasised  the  precise  place 
of  the  muscles  which  it  had  traced  out.  For  that 
very  reason  it  is  essentially  a  true  art,  without  any 
of  the  slovenly  substitutes  for  Nature  which  are 
termed  conventions.  It  had  no  traditions  to  spoil 
it  or  hold  it  back  :  it  was  full  of  observation  as  the 
only  method  for  its  work.  It  is  always  simple  and 
dignified,  and  shows  more  truth  and  precision  than 
any  art  of  a  later  age. 

After  the  conscious  study  of  Nature,  the  greatest 
step  in  any  art  is  the  deliberate  work  for  the  sake 
of  its  own  beauty,  and  not  merely  because  it  has 
to  tell  a  story.  It  may  be  said  that  this  is  the 
birth  of  true  art ;  all  before  that  merely  consists  of 
representations  for  another  purpose.  But  work  for 
the  sake  of  beauty  alone  is  art  pure  and  simple, 
and  this  stage  was  reached  at  the  very  beginning 
of  the  history,  in  the  beautiful  carving  of  the  palm 
tree  and  long-necked  gazelles  (fig.  52). 

The  Pyramid  age  (4700-4000  B.C.)  brought  in 
fresh  ideals.  The  early  kings  had  expanded  a  chief- 

15 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


tainship  into  a  kingdom,  without  realising  all  the 
new  conditions  of  organization  which  were  involved. 
The  great  work  of  the  early  pyramid  kings,  Seno- 
feru  and  Khufu,  was  the  massive  organizing  of 
the  civil  service  of  the  country,  the  establishment 
of  a  social  organism  which  resisted  all  the  invasions 
and  disasters  of  the  land,  and  survived  in  parts  to 
our  own  times.  These  new  ideals  were  naturally 
reflected  in  the  art.  In  place  of  tombs  such  as 
any  great  chief  might  have  ordered,  the  most 
gigantic  pyramids  were  erected,  buildings  yet  un- 
surpassed in  bulk  and  in  accuracy  of  workmanship. 
The  new  social  order  of  the  official  world  followed 
in  the  same  lines,  and  dozens  of  tombs  were  sculp- 
tured in  each  reign,  larger  and  more  elaborate  than 
most  of  the  royal  sepulchres  of  other  lands  and  ages. 
The  host  of  these  tombs  which  remain  constitute 
a  larger  treasury  of  artistic  work  than  there  is  of 
any  other  period  in  the  world  s  history. 

A  typical  example  of  this  new  order  is  the  figure 
of  a  servant  of  a  noble  named  Ainofer  (fig.  5).  The 
high  rounded  relief,  the  sense  of  action,  the  deli- 
cacy of  detail  and  expression,  all  mark  this  new  time. 
The  greater  part  of  the  really  fine  sculpture  that  we 
possess  in  Egypt  comes  from  this  time.  The  stat- 
uary (figs.  23  to  31),  the  reliefs  (figs.  55  to  57),  the 

16 


THE  PERIODS  AND  SCHOOLS 


painting  (fig.  68),  all  show  the  noble  spaciousness 
and  grandeur  of  the  age.  Its  style  is  severe  and 
never  trifles  with  superfluities.  The  smallest  as  well 
as  the  largest  work  seems  complete  and  inevitable, 
without  being  constrained  by  any  limitations  of 
time,  or  labour,  or  thought.  For  the  expression  of 
royal  energy,  dignity,  and  equanimity  the  figures 
of  Khufu  and  Khafra  are  unsurpassed.  In  the  vivid 
expression  of  personal  character  no  age  has  sur- 
passed the  statues  of  the  officials  and  their  wives. 
The  style  of  other  ages  may  be  more  scholastic, 
more  amusing,  or  more  graceful,  but  for  all  that 
constitutes  great  art  no  period  can  compare  with 
that  of  the  mighty  pyramid  kings. 

All  things  pass  away,  and  during  the  centuries 
of  disruption  which  followed  the  Vlth  dynasty  the 
old  style  ran  down  to  an  incredible  coarseness  and 
clumsy  copying.  At  the  close  of  the  Xlth  dynasty 
a  revival  took  place.  Like  all  great  developments 
of  art  it  rose  with  extraordinary  rapidity,  and  with- 
in a  generation  or  two  the  new  movement  was  fully 
grown.  Its  characteristic  was  the  use  of  very  low 
relief,  with  faint  but  perfectly  clear  outlines  (see 
fig.  6).  It  was  the  style  of  a  school,  and  not  that 
of  Nature.  A  regular  course  of  artistic  training  is 
described  by  an  artist ;  first  was  taught  the  posi- 

17  3 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


tions  of  figures  in  slow  action,  then  the  differences 
of  male  and  female  figures,  next  mythological  sub- 
jects, and  lastly,  the  attitudes  of  rapid  action.  This 
mechanical  training  naturally  went  with  elaboration 
of  detail.  The  minute  lining  over  large  masses 
of  hair,  the  carving  of  every  bead  of  a  necklace, 
were  the  outcome  of  scholastic  training.  The  arti- 
ficial reduction  of  figures  in  the  round  to  a  very 
delicate  variation  of  planes  in  low  relief  was  accord- 
ing to  the  same  system.  The  whole  works  of  the 
Xllth  dynasty  are  beautiful,  reserved,  and  pleasing, 
with  a  clearness  and  finish  which  appeals  to  a  sense 
of  orderly  perfection.  They  have  neither  the  gran- 
deur of  what  went  before  nor  the  grace  of  what 
followed  them. 

The  XVI I  Ith  and  XlXth  dynasties  are  the  most 
popularly  known  age  of  the  art.  The  profusion 
of  remains,  their  accessibility  at  Thebes,  and  the 
more  intimate  style  of  the  designs,  have  led  to  their 
general  acceptance  as  typical.  This  position  must 
not  be  allowed  in  a  wider  knowledge  of  the  subject. 
The  whole  level  of  art  of  the  XVI I  Ith  dynasty 
is  as  much  below  that  of  the  XI  Ith,  as  the  style  of 
the  Xllth  is  below  that  of  the  IVth  dynasty.  The 
scholastic  work  of  the  Xllth  is  followed  by  a  treat- 
ment which  is  almost  always  conventional  in  the 

i8 


THE  PERIODS  AND  SCHOOLS 


XVI  Hth  ;  and  the  XlXth  dynasty  shows  merely  a 
degradation  of  what  preceded  it.  At  the  close  of  the 
XVI Ith  dynasty  there  emerges  from  the  turmoil  of 
the  Hyksos  barbarism  a  rude  but  lively  style  of 
drawing,  with  sculpture  of  clumsy  figures  and  badly- 
formed  hieroglyphs.  Stepping  into  the  XVI I  Ith 
dynasty  we  meet  with  stiff  and  rather  heavy  statu- 
ettes, the  female  figures,  however,  showing  the  dawn 
of  the  seductive  grace  which  followed.  Little  can 
be  said  to  have  changed  in  ideals  since  the  XI Ith 
dynasty,  until  the  Asiatic  conquests  altered  the 
civilisation  of  Egypt.  Thothmes  I  and  III  brought 
back  thousands  of  Syrian  captives,  many  of  whom 
were  selected  for  their  beauty  and  their  artistic 
ability  ;  their  work  and  their  influence  transformed 
the  art,  and  the  ideal  became  that  of  a  light,  grace- 
ful, fascinating  type  which  posed  much  and  sug- 
gested more. 

The  art  of  character  had  become  secondary  to 
the  art  of  emotion.  Vivacity  and  romance  led  the 
way,  and  the  older  studies  of  deeper  life  and  fine 
anatomy  were  out  of  date.  Fluttering  ribbons  and 
prancing  horses  and  galloping  calves  were  repre- 
sented without  the  laborious  sculpture,  but  merely 
painted  with  a  flowing  line  on  the  tomb  walls,  which 
were  plastered  smooth  over  the  roughest  hewing 

19 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


in  the  rock.  The  cheapest  road  to  effect  was  the 
favourite  way,  and  the  eternal  solidity  and  digni- 
fied simplicity  of  the  older  ages  had  vanished.  The 
figure  of  an  official  of  Kha-em-hat  (fig.  7)  is  typi- 
cal of  the  best  work  of  this  age.  The  other  ex- 
amples are  shown  in  figs.  36-42,  60-62,  69-78. 
This  new  order  of  things  culminated  under  Akh- 
enaten,  when  naturalism,  influenced  largely  from 
Greece,  removed  the  older  principles  of  Egyptian 
art ;  and  all  the  passing  incidents  of  life,  the  dom- 
estic affections  of  the  king  and  the  festivities  of 
his  court,  became  the  subjects  of  even  funerary 
sculptures  and  painting  in  the  tombs.  After  that 
stage  there  was  nothing  left  to  do  but  to  fall  back 
on  the  old  stock  subjects  and  copy  and  re-copy  them 
worse  and  worse  during  the  succeeding  dynasties. 
Egyptian  art  perishes  with  Akhenaten  ;  all  that 
came  after  was  a  bloodless  imitation. 

The  XlXth  dynasty  art  is  fairly  represented  by 
a  figure  of  one  of  the  king's  sons  (fig.  8).  Here 
is  seen  the  baldness  of  the  style.  The  profile  is 
mechanical,  the  hair  hangs  in  a  heavy  and  ugly  flap, 
the  body  has  no  anatomy,  the  legs  are  badly  drawn, 
and  the  long  streamers  flying  from  the  waist  are 
out  of  keeping.  The  coarse,  heavy  work  of  the 
temples  of  Abu  Simbel,  or  the  great  hall  of  Kar- 

20 


THE  PERIODS  OF  ART 


7.  XVIIIth  dynasty 
9.  Saite  (XXVI) 


8.  XlXth  dynasty 
10.  Ptolemaic 


THE  PERIODS  AND  SCHOOLS 


nak,  is  obtrusive  in  spite  of  their  grandiose  concep- 
tion. In  the  XXth  dynasty  the  inscriptions  also 
suffered  by  being  cut  very  deeply,  so  that  the  signs 
appeared  as  black  shadows  without  any  detail.  The 
decay  was  only  arrested  by  a  deliberate  copying  of 
the  style  of  the  pyramid  age. 

The  XXV I th  dynasty  tried  to  recover  the  early 
grandeur  of  sculpture  by  close  imitation,  but  it  is 
rarely  that  any  fragment  of  this  work  does  not  be- 
tray itself  by  its  inane  treatment,  bad  jointing  of  the 
limbs,  and  want  of  proportion.  One  of  the  best 
examples  of  the  more  original  work  is  the  figure 
of  an  elderly  official  (fig.  9).  The  want  of  detail 
is  hidden  by  the  stiff"  robe  without  a  fold  or  curve, 
leaving  only  the  head  and  extremities  to  be  repre- 
sented. Another  example  is  in  fig.  64,  where  the 
bad  jointing  and  lack  of  anatomy  is  too  evident. 

In  the  Ptolemaic  time  these  faults  are  even  more 
apparent,  when  the  bad  copy  of  a  copy  was  the  ideal. 
In  fig.  10  is  seen  the  hopelessly  wrong  proportion- 
ing of  the  parts,  the  clumsy  lumps  of  flesh  and 
exaggerated  muscles,  which  are  the  extreme  op- 
posite to  the  over-refined  flat  relief  of  the  Xllth 
dynasty.  The  hair  partakes  of  the  same  faults, 
being  carved  as  rows  of  lumps  representing  separ- 
ate curls. 

21 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Portraiture,  which  compelled  some  attention  to 
Nature,  is  the  latest  surviving  form  of  art.  In  the 
XXV I th  dynasty  fairly  good  heads  were  occasion- 
ally done,  but  often  with  some  disproportion.  The 
modelled  stucco  heads  of  the  Roman  age  are  the 
last  stage.  Some  of  them  show  a  real  ability  and 
feeling  for  character  (figs.  135  to  137),  and  one 
example  which  can  be  compared  with  the  skull 
proves  the  accuracy  of  the  modelling  (fig.  138). 

The  various  Schools  of  Art  should  now  be  no- 
ticed. The  styles  of  the  different  periods  that  we 
have  considered  were  of  course  obvious  in  all  the 
schools;  the  character  of  an  age  affected  all  parts  of 
the  country.  Owing  to  the  absence  of  any  artists' 
names,  and  the  extreme  rarity  of  those  of  architects, 
it  is  impossible  to  trace  the  personal  origin  of  any 
works.  And  as  we  cannot  say  how  much  the  artists 
travelled  about  the  country,  mere  locality  does  not 
prove  a  conclusive  test ;  probably  for  royal  works 
the  artists  went  to  any  city  according  to  orders. 
Among  private  tombs  we  can  see  great  differences 
of  style,  as  between  Memphis,  Thebes,  and  Aswan. 
But  the  difficulty  of  exact  dating  makes  comparison 
doubtful,  as  we  might  set  side  by  side  works  of 
the  rise  and  of  the  climax  of  a  period.  The  most 
satisfactory  evidence  about  the  schools  is  from  the 

22 


THE  PERIODS  AND  SCHOOLS 


statuary  in  different  materials.  When  once  a  sculp- 
tor was  trained  to  the  peculiarities  of  one  stone  he 
would  not  be  likely  to  enter  on  all  the  difficulties 
of  a  fresh  material.  A  man  trained  for  years  to 
slicing  and  bruising  out  granite  without  the  least 
fear  of  a  crack,  would  not  relish  hewing  soft  sand- 
stones that  split,  or  limestone  that  could  not  be 
trusted  with  its  own  weight  on  a  finished  surface. 
Certainly  the  men  who  learned  sculpture  on  the 
softer  materials  would  be  helpless  on  the  granite. 
Then  we  know  that  the  statues  were  at  least  dressed 
into  shape — if  not  entirely  finished — at  the  quarries, 
and  hence  the  work  in  one  material  would  continue 
in  the  hands  of  one  local  school.  It  is  therefore 
likely  that  the  stone  workers  of  each  material  formed 
an  unbroken  succession,  probably  in  certain  families 
for  the  most  part,  and  handed  on  their  traditions 
for  several  dynasties  successively,  perhaps  even 
throughout  thousands  of  years.  This  would  not  be 
so  much  the  case  in  relief  sculpture,  as  there  the 
blocks  were  built  in  and  sculptured  at  the  building, 
wherever  that  might  be. 

When  we  look  for  differences  of  treatment  we 
see  how  strongly  one  style  of  work  is  continued 
in  one  material  through  a  long  period.  We  have 
here  contemporaneous  examples  in  four  different 

23 


Arts  &  crafts  of  ancient  egypt 


stones,  the  statues  of  Rameses  1 1  in  black  granite, 
hard  Hmestone,  red  granite  and  Nubian  sandstone 
(figs.  1 1  to  14).  In  all  cases  work  in  black  granite 
is  finer  than  that  in  the  other  stones  at  the  same 
period.  The  figures  of  the  so-called  Hyksos  type 
(fig.  34),  of  the  Xlllth,  the  XVIIIth,  the  XlXth 
and  the  XXVth  dynasties,  and  the  sarcophagi  of 
the  XVIIIth  dynasty,  in  black  granite,  all  show 
far  finer  forms  and  finish  than  those  in  the  other 
materials.  Of  briefer  use  there  were  two  other 
stones  which  show  equally  fine  work — diorite,  which 
was  hardly  ever  sculptured  except  in  the  IVth 
dynasty  (fig.  27),  and  green  basalt,  used  in  the 
XVIIIth  (fig.  37).  The  green  basalt  must  be  put 
in  the  highest  place  as  regards  minute  handling  and 
freedom  of  curves ;  the  fine  grain  and  moderate  hard- 
ness were  most  favourable  to  the  artist.  The  black 
granite  work  comes  next  in  quality,  having  fine 
curves  but  not  quite  the  same  freedom,  owing  to  the 
coarser  grain.  The  diorite  has  a  beautiful  grain  for 
work,  but  the  hardness  has  influenced  the  detail  of 
recesses,  and  it  is  seldom  that  inner  angles  are  as 
truly  worked  out  as  in  the  black  granite.  The  com- 
parison is  perhaps  hardly  just,  as  there  are  no  con- 
temporary works  in  these  two  stones.  It  seems 
not  improbable  that  all  these  hard  stones  were  found 

24 


RAMESSU   II,   BY  DIFFERENT  SCHOOLS 


II.  Black  granite 
13.  Red  granite 


12.  Hard  limestone 
14.  Nubian  sandstone 


THE  PERIODS  AND  SCHOOLS 

in  the  same  region,  the  Eastern  desert,  and  that 
they  were  all  worked  by  one  school.  That  there 
was  a  fine  technical  training  there  in  early  times 
is  shown  by  the  splendid  bowls  and  vases  of  the 
hardest  rocks  which  were  wrought  in  prehistoric 
ages  and  the  first  dynasty.  Such  vases  were  made 
in  the  mountain  district,  as  the  figures  of  a  warmly- 
clad  race  bear  them  in  tribute  to  the  Egyptian  king 
i^Jour,  Anthrop,  Inst,,  xxxi.,  pi.  xix.,  13-15).  Thus 
we  may  look  on  this  black-granite  school  as  belong- 
ing really  to  the  border  people  of  the  Eastern  desert, 
and  not  to  the  Nile  plain. 

The  limestone  school  was  expressly  that  of  Mem- 
phis and  Middle  Egypt.  It  is  best  known  from  the 
host  of  private  statues  found  in  the  cemetery  of 
Saqqareh.  Work  of  the  finest  delicacy  was  done  in 
this  soft  and  uniform  material  (see  figs.  24,  29-32) ; 
and  a  branch  of  the  same  school  was  that  working 
the  harder  limestones  which  were  a  favourite  stone 
in  the  XVHIth  and  XlXth  dynasties  in  upper 
Egypt,  as  in  the  colossus  of  Rameses  W  (fig.  12). 
Both  branches  of  this  school  excelled  in  the  delicate 
expression  of  physiognomy  ;  the  proportions  of  the 
limbs  and  the  finish  of  the  extremities  are  usually 
excellent.  The  alabaster  work  is  a  branch  of  this 
same  school,  with  similar  proportion  and  finish.  It 

25 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


is  a  rare  material  for  sculpture  till  the  XVI I  Ith  dy- 
nasty, but  under  Amenhotep  II  to  IV  it  was  often 
used ;  and  it  serves  for  one  of  the  best  works  of 
later  time,  the  statue  of  Amenardys  (fig.  47).  The 
quarries  were  in  the  midst  of  the  limestone  hills, 
especially  where  the  hard  limestone  occurs  near 
Tell-el-Amarna.  Thus  the  same  school  dealt  with 
this  whole  group  of  calcareous  rocks. 

Another  very  fine  school  was  that  of  the  quartzite 
sandstone  of  Gebel  Ahmar,  near  Cairo.  The  ma- 
terial was  closely  limited  to  a  single  hill  cemented 
by  hot  springs  ;  and  what  is  now  seen  there  is  only 
the  immense  heap  of  chippings  left  by  workers  of 
all  ages  :  the  hill  itself  has  almost  vanished.  This 
material  was  worked  in  the  pyramid  times,  but  only 
roughly.  The  XI Ith  dynasty  kings  saw  its  value, 
and  quarried  it  for  sarcophagi  and  chambers,  but 
seldom  used  it  for  sculpture.  The  XVI I  Ith  dy- 
nasty attacked  it  on  an  enormous  scale ;  the  two 
great  colossi  of  Amenhotep  III,  weighing  1 1 75  tons 
each,  were  cut  and  carried  up-stream  450  miles  to 
Thebes.  Statues  are  found,  royal  and  private,  in 
all  parts  of  the  land,  and  naturally  this  stone  was 
largely  used  at  Tanis.  The  work  is  usually  excel- 
lent, almost  equal  to  the  limestone  sculpture ;  but 
it  generally  falls  a  little  below  that  of  the  previous 

26 


THE  PERIODS  AND  SCHOOLS 


schools  in  the  depth  of  cutting  and  the  freedom  of 
work  in  hollows. 

The  red  granite  school  was  at  Aswan,  where  the 
statues  and  obelisks  are  still  lying  unfinished  in  the 
quarries.  The  artist  was  much  hindered  by  the 
coarse  grain  of  the  stone,  which  made  fine  work 
difficult.  On  the  obelisks  this  has  been  fairly  over- 
come by  a  great  amount  of  emery  cutting,  and 
sharp  smooth  hieroglyphs  were  cleanly  cut.  But 
for  statuary,  even  in  the  pyramid  age  the  features 
are  coarsely  worked  and  the  detail  scanty  ;  and 
when  used  later  on  a  large  scale,  the  forms  are 
heavy,  the  inner  angles  seldom  worked  out,  and  the 
extremities  thick  and  massive.  This  is  seen  in  the 
colossus  of  Rameses  H  (fig.  13),  as  well  as  in  ear- 
lier figures. 

The  Nubian  sandstone  school  was  the  least  art- 
istic. The  softness  and  ready  splitting  of  the  stone 
prevented  clean  and  well-finished  work.  Detail  was 
almost  impossible,  and  it  was  a  mistake  to  use  a  good 
building  stone  for  the  wrong  purpose  of  fine  carv- 
ing. In  early  times  this  stone  was  never  used,  ex- 
cept locally  in  its  own  region.  The  XHth  dynasty 
rarely  used  it,  but  by  the  middle  of  the  XVHIth  it 
became  general,  and  it  was  the  main  stone  of  the 
XI  Xth  dynasty  in  Upper  Egypt.   Its  use,  however, 

27 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


does  not  come  down  to  Middle  or  Lower  Egypt. 
The  long  avenue  of  sphinxes  at  Thebes  are  the 
most  familiar  sculpture  in  this  material,  and  similar 
figures  were  also  placed  by  Amenhotep  III  in  his 
temple  on  the  Western  bank.  The  great  colossi  of 
Abu  Simbel  are  the  main  example  of  sculpture  in 
this  stone  (fig.  14).  They  show  the  defects  of  the 
other  southern  school,  that  of  red  granite.  The 
limbs  are  square  and  heavy,  the  feet  and  hands  are 
flat  and  mechanical,  and  the  muscles  are  crude 
ridges.  But  the  face  is  fairly  rendered,  as  well  per- 
haps as  was  practicable  in  such  material. 

We  thus  see  that  there  were  essential  differences 
between  the  various  schools  of  Egyptian  art,  partly 
due  to  the  various  peoples,  but  mainly  resulting 
from  the  material  used  by  each  school. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  STATUARY 

Figures  in  the  round  are  the  earliest  mode  of  mo- 
delling, and  remain  the  most  important,  as  they  are 
less  conditioned  than  reliefs,  and  give  full  scope  to 
ability  and  knowledge.  The  earliest  human  figures 
are  found  in  the  second  stage  of  the  prehistoric  age, 
immediately  after  the  white-lined  pottery.  They 
are  of  ivory,  limestone,  slate,  pottery,  or  of  stick  and 
paste.  Such  figures  did  not  continue  to  be  made 
after  the  middle  of  the  prehistoric  civilisation.  The 
ivory  figures  usually  end  in  a  mere  peg  below,  with 
wide  hips  and  shoulders,  but  no  arms.  The  eyes 
are  marked,  though  often  the  mouth  and  nose  are 
omitted  (fig.  15).  The  limestone  or  cement  figures 
have  the  division  of  the  legs  lined  out ;  some  are 
standing,  as  fig.  16,  with  tatu  marks  painted  on 
the  stone  ;  others  are  of  the  armless  form,  seated, 
and  clearly  of  the  steatopygous  Bushman  type.  The 

29 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


slate  figures  are  always  of  men,  with  pointed  beards, 
and  white  beads  inserted  for  eyes.  The  pottery 
figures  are  roughly  modelled,  but  with  the  legs  sep- 
arated. The  stick  and  paste  figures  are  made  by 
modelling  a  vegetable  paste  over  a  stick ;  the  legs 
aremarked,  sometimes  arms  are  added,  or  else  there 
are  merely  shoulder  stumps.  In  one  case  the  head 
is  modelled  bald,  painted  red,  and  has  a  black  wig 
modelled  over  it,  showing  that  separate  wigs  are 
as  old  as  the  prehistoric  time.  Some  ivory  tusks 
are  carved  with  a  much  more  advanced  style  of 
heads  (fig.  17),  which  give  the  best  idea  that  we 
have  of  the  type  of  the  people.  The  animal  figures 
are  rudely  cut,  but  have  a  certain  ferocious  air 

(fig.  18). 

Some  much  more  advanced  figures  in  ivory  have 
the  legs  and  arms  separate,  and  a  passable  amount 
of  modelling  in  the  head  and  body.  Though  quite 
of  prehistoric  style,  they  are  probably  influenced  by 
the  school  of  highly  developed  ivory-work  of  the 
1st  dynasty,  and  may  shortly  precede  that  time. 

The  early  dynastic  age  brought  in  entirely  new 
ideals.  The  oldest  figures  of  this  time  are  the  co- 
lossal statues  of  the  god  Min  from  Koptos.  These 
are  of  much  the  same  work  as  the  prehistoric  human 
figures,  but  have  spirited  drawings  of  animals  in- 

30 


PREHISTORIC 


Prehistoric  figures  in  the  round 


THE  STATUARY 


cised  on  them  (see  fig.  51).  Just  before  the  1st 
dynasty  there  came  a  finely  developed  style  of  ivory- 
carving,  which  is  known  to  us  by  the  many  figures 
of  men  and  women  found  at  Hierakonpolis.  The 
finest  stone-work  of  that  age  is  a  study  in  limestone 
of  a  king's  head  (figs.  19,  20),  which  is  so  closely 
like  Narmer  (fig.  54)  that  it  must  be  just  at  the 
beginning  of  the  1st  dynasty.  It  is  a  sculptor's 
study  of  a  king  preparatory  to  making  his  statue, 
and,  as  Professor  A.  Michaelis  says,  it  renders  the 
race-type  with  astounding  keenness,  and  shows  an 
excellent  power  of  observation  in  the  exact  repre- 
sentation of  the  eyes."  The  delicacy  of  the  facial 
curves  should  be  noticed,  and  the  entire  absence 
of  any  conventions  in  the  modelling  of  the  mouth 
as  well  as  the  eyes.  The  widely  prominent  ears  are 
a  characteristic  of  the  earliest  historic  figures  ;  such 
a  feature  belongs  to  a  hunting  race  who  need  to 
catch  sounds,  and  suggests  that  they  always  slept 
on  their  backs.  This  is  unlike  the  prehistoric  folk, 
who  were  always  buried  contracted  and  lying  on 
the  side,  as  being  their  natural  attitude ;  but  it  agrees 
with  the  modern  Egyptian,  who  sleeps  in  the  mum- 
my posture,  lying  on  the  back. 

A  large  number  of  ivory  figures  were  found  at 
Abydos,  fully  developed  in  style,  beyond  those 

31 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


of  Hierakonpolis.  They  comprise  figures  of  girls, 
boys,  dogs,  apes,  a  bear,  and  many  lions.  They  are 
admirably  easy  in  their  pose,  and  perfectly  natural 
in  form  with  a  simplicity  and  truthfulness  better 
than  any  later  work.  The  figure  of  an  old  king  (fig. 
2i)  was  with  these;  notice  the  subtle  expression 
of  the  face,  the  droop  of  the  head  forward,  and 
the  natural  air.  This  is  probably  early  in  the  1st 
dynasty. 

Rather  later  is  the  hard  limestone  head  of  King 
Kha-sekhem,  of  the  Ilild  dynasty  (fig.  22).  Fine 
as  the  modelling  is  about  the  mouth,  yet  convention 
has  already  crept  in  ;  the  edges  of  the  lips  are  shar- 
pened, and  the  extended  line  at  the  outer  corner 
of  the  eye  has  been  introduced.  *We  see  then  under 
theearliest  dynasties  the  observation  of  Nature  free 
from  any  artificial  trammels,unconscious,  simple  and 
dignified,  on  a  higher  plane  of  truthfulness  and  pre- 
cision than  is  found  in  later  art. 

In  the  pyramid  age  we  will  first  observe  the 
earlier  private  figures  (23  to  26).  Queen  Mertitefs 
(fig.  23)  was  the  wife  of  Seneferu,  at  the  close  of 
the  Ilird  dynasty.  In  her  type  of  face,  and  the 
treatment  of  it,  we  see  an  earlier  race  and  earlier 
work  than  that  of  the  pyramid  times.  The  large, 
staring  eyes,  the  mouth  turning  down,  the  natural 

32 


EARLIEST  DYNASTIKS 


OLD  KINGDOM  SCULPTURE 


THE  STATUARY 


hair  cut  short  and  brushed  straight  down  over  the 
forehead  beneath  the  wig, — ^all  these  details  dis- 
appear after  this.  When  we  compare  this  with  the 
head  of  Nofert  (fig.  24),  who  was  of  the  next  gene- 
ration, the  change  of  type  and  work  is  at  once  seen. 
In  Nofert  the  eyes  are  admirably  placed,  the  brow  is 
perfectly  nMural,  and  the  modelling  of  the  features 
is  irreproachable.  Yet  there  is  less  absolute  natur- 
alism than  in  the  older  work  of  the  1st  dynasty. 
The  hair  is  evidently  kept  complete  beneath  the 
wig,  and  is  laid  put  smoothly  over  the  forehead. 

The  celebrated  figureof  Ka-aper,  or  the ' ' Sheykh 
el  Beled,''  belongs  to  the  same  period.  The  figure 
is  so  well  known  that  it  need  not  appear  here,  but 
the  full  face  is  less  familiar  (fig.  25).  The  mouth 
and  chin  are  perhaps  the  most  truthful  part,  and 
seem  entirely  free  from  convention.  The  eyes  are 
excellent  in  form,  but  affected  by  the  technical  de- 
tail of  inserting  the  eyeball  of  stone  and  crystal  in 
a  copper  frame.  The  similar  eyes  in  the  head  of 
Nofert  are  more  carefully  inserted,  so  that  the  frame 
is  not  obvious.  The  hair  is  represented  as  closely 
cut,  so  as  to  allow  the  wig  to  be  put  over  it.  We 
can,  however,  hardly  judge  of  this  figure  as  it  is, 
stripped  of  the  coat  of  coloured  stucco  which  co- 
vered such  work.   The  portions  of  similar  wooden 

33  3 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


figures  in  the  temple  of  Abydos  had  all  been  thus 
painted.  Such  a  coat  would  modify  the  eye  setting, 
and  leave  only  the  dark  line  visible  which  imitated 
the  kohl  on  the  eyelids. 

Another  work  of  the  same  age  is  the  best  for  the 
pose  of  the  figure  (fig.  26).  The  vigorous,  indepen- 
dent, frank  attitude  is  perhaps  the  finest  in  any  por- 
trait, ancient  or  modern.  The  profile  is  of  the  same 
type  as  that  of  Nofert,  alike  in  the  strong  brow  and 
the  form  of  the  nose  and  chin  ;  the  eye  is  more 
prominent,  and  the  mouth  less  luxurious,  while  the 
under-chin  is  firmer.  Such  differences  are  all  in 
keeping  with  the  character,  that  of  an  active  mis- 
tress of  an  estate  rather  than  an  easy-going  noble. 

We  shall  not  find  in  any  of  the  subsequent  work 
of  the  pyramid  age — still  less  in  the  later  ages — 
such  vitality  and  strength  of  individual  character  as 
we  have  seen  in  these  early  portraits.  With  these 
stands  also  the  minute  head  of  Khufu  (fig.  123), 
which  we  shall  notice  with  the  ivory-work. 

The  statue  of  Khafra  (fig.  27)  carved  in  diorite 
is  one  of  the  grandest  works  of  Egypt.  The  entire 
dignity  and  majesty  shown  contrast  strongly  with 
the  active  air  of  the  subordinate  classes.  The  mus- 
cular detail  is  powerful,  but  yet  in  keeping  with  the 
serenity  of  the  figure.   The  whole  is  best  grasped 

34 


OLD  KINGDOM  SCULPTURE 


OLD   KINGDOM  SCULPTURE 


29.  The  scribe  30,  Wife  and  daughter  31.  Ranofer 


THE  STATUARY 

from  below,  as  it  was  intended  to  be  seen  ;  but  the 
head  should  be  studied  at  its  own  level,  and  the 
profile,  from  a  cast  (fig.  28),  shows  the  form  as  it 
originally  appeared  when  covered  with  a  facing 
which  concealed  the  grain  of  the  stone.  The  differ- 
ence of  character  between  the  calm,  easy  dignity 
of  this,  and  the  terrible  energy  of  Khufu  (fig.  123), 
should  be  observed.  It  shows  how  free  the  art  is 
from  any  mere  convention  of  majesty.  The  hawk 
behind  the  king  is  shown  as  spreading  out  its  wings 
to  protect  the  royal  head.  This  symbolism  is  in- 
geniously hidden  in  the  front  view,  so  as  not  to 
interfere  with  the  effect  of  the  whole  figure  as  it 
was  intended  to  be  seen.  The  figures  of  the  Vth 
and  Vlth  dynasties  have  more  vivacity  than  those 
earlier,  but  scarcely  such  a  real  vitality.  The  well- 
known  scribe  (fig.  29)  is  a  good  piece  of  expression, 
showing  the  attentive,  waiting  air  of  a  man  who  is 
following  dictation.  The  anatomy  is  not  detailed, 
and  the  surfaces  look  rather  blocked  out  and  bald 
as  compared  with  Khafra. 

The  lower  part  of  a  group  is  given  here  (fig.  30) 
for  figures  of  the  seated  wife  and  daughter.  These 
show  good  modelling  of  the  figure  in  a  close-fitting 
garment,  and  the  hair  is  worn  over  the  forehead 
beneath  the  wig,  as  by  Nofert.   The  figure  of  Ra- 

35 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


nofer  (fig.  31)  is  one  of  the  most  dignified  of  the 
portraits  of  officials.  The  pose  is  strong ;  the 
muscles  are  well  rendered,  and  not  too  full  though 
clear.  The  wig  stands  well  off  the  head,  and  gives 
a  continuous  outline  with  the  figure.  It  is  hard  to 
see  how  the  whole  expression  could  be  better  than 
this. 

On  looking  closely  at  the  detail  of  these  early- 
statues,  there  is  very  little  that  can  be  set  down  as 
conventional.  All  the  features  are  natural,  well 
placed,  and  harmonious.  The  relation  of  the  brow 
to  the  eyes  is  generally  true.  But  this  point  was 
entirely  missed  in  later  times.  I  n  the  X 1 1  th  dynasty 
the  eye  is  rather  too  forward  ;  and  in  the  XVIIIth 
there  is  hardly  a  single  statue  that  is  correct,  the 
eyes  usually  projecting  to  the  plane  of  the  brow. 
On  observing  even  the  finest  figures  of  later  times 
it  will  be  seen  how  purely  conventional  is  their 
treatment ;  the  mouth  and  eyes  are  cold  and  me- 
chanical, and  it  is  seldom  that  any  one  feature  even 
approaches  the  truth  of  the  early  art. 

In  the  Xllth  dynasty  the  work  shows  the  scho- 
lastic style  of  deliberate  accuracy,  without  as  much 
personal  vitality  as  in  earlier  times.  Yet  it  is  full  of 
carefully  observed  detail,  and  is  by  no  means  per- 
functory like  the  later  work. 

36 


THE  STATUARY 

The  facial  surfaces  are  well  rendered  :  observe 
the  varied  treatment  of  the  cheek  below  the  eye 
in  figs.  32,  33,  and  35,  which  are  clearly  individual. 
The  entirely  different  form  of  the  mouth  in  these 
three  is  as  evidently  personal.  Throughout  Egyp- 
tian work  the  eye  is  of  two  distinct  types,  both  of 
which  we  see  here  in  the  Xllth  dynasty.  In  one 
type  (fig.  32)  the  upper  lid  rises  to  its  highest  point 
near  the  inner  side ;  and  with  this  form  the  actual 
corner,  or  canthus  major,  may  end  in  a  mere  angle 
or  in  a  lachrymal  fossa  more  or  less  developed,  an 
extreme  case  of  the  long  and  wide  fossa  being  seen 
in  fig.  32,  and  in  the  black  granite  figure  from  Alex- 
andria (so-called  Hyksos)  in  Cairo.  This  may  be 
called  the  gibbous  form  of  lid,  and  it  is  the  more 
usual  in  the  sculpture  and  on  coffins.  The  use  of 
a  copper  frame  round  the  inserted  eye  in  Old  King- 
dom statues  makes  it  uncertain  how  far  the  lachry- 
mal fossa  was  intended  to  appear.  But  the  statues 
of  a  single  material  show  a  small  fossa  in  most  cases, 
such  as  Khafra,  Dadefra,  the  (so-called)  wife  of  the 
Sheykh,  and  Sebekhotep  III.  In  later  work  there 
is  no  fossa,  but  only  an  angle,  as  in  Tahutmes  III, 
Amenhotep  III,  Amenhotep  son  of  Hapi,  and  other 
instances  to  the  end  of  the  dynasties.  But  a  slight 
fossa  is  shown  in  Akhenaten  and  his  family,  and  in 

37 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Ramessu  II  ;  and,  under  the  Ethiopians,  Taharqa 
and  Amenardys  are  both  shown  with  a  long  fossa. 

The  other  type  of  eye  seen  in  figs.  33,  35  may  be 
called  the  narrow  eye.  This  seems  to  belong  mainly 
to  the  Middle  Kingdom,  and  is  seen  in  Senusert  I II, 
Amenemhat  III,  Queen  Nofert,  and  Noferhotep. 
It  is  perhaps  unknown  at  an  earlier  age  ;  and  later 
it  rarely  occurs,  but  may  be  seen  in  Merenptah,  and 
somewhat  in  Mentu-em-hat  and  some  portraits  of 
the  XXVIth  dynasty.  These  remarks  are  merely 
to  draw  attention  to  a  detail  which  is  easily  observed 
and  seldom  defaced ;  but  for  drawing  conclusions  an 
extensive  study  is  needed  of  all  the  varieties  of  form 
and  treatment,  not  only  of  the  eye,  but  also  of  the 
lips,  nostrils,  ears,  and  hair.  How  far  such  detail 
belonged  to  the  subject,  and  how  much  is  due  to 
artistic  conventions,  we  cannot  yet  say  ;  but  from  the 
similarities  of  portraits  of  the  same  person  it  seems 
probable  that  the  details  are  really  due  to  differences 
of  type. 

We  now  have  a  very  difficult  question  to  state  as 
to  the  origin  of  the  remarkable  type  of  fig.  34.  This 
is  one  of  the  class  of  sphinxes  and  statues  com- 
monly described  as  being  of  the  Hyksos.  Yet,  as 
the  Hyksos  kings'  names  are  roughly  cut  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  sphinxes,  they  are  clearly  not  the 

38 


MIDDLE  KINGDOM  SCULPTURE 


32.  Senusert  I 
34.  Foreign  type 


33.  Senusert  III 
35.  Amenemhat  III 


THE  STATUARY 

original  inscriptions  ;  and,  as  clearly,  these  figures 
are  older  than  the  Hyksos.  The  type  is  distin- 
guished by  an  extreme  muscularity  of  the  face,  deep- 
ly cut,  powerful  lips  with  strong  flexures,  and  the 
long  nose,  not  very  prominent,  but  broad.  All  these 
points  are  much  in  excess  of  such  features  on  any 
statue  of  a  named  Egyptian  king.  Some  similari- 
ties may  be  seen  in  the  type  of  Senusert  III  and 
Amenemhat  III  (figs.  33,  35) ;  but  these  latter  are 
much  less  strong  and  unconventional.  It  is  prob- 
able that  some  of  the  stock  of  fig.  34  has  gone  to 
form  the  type  of  figs.  33  and  35,  but  it  is  impossible 
to  see  in  them  a  uniform  single  type.  It  seems  most 
probable  that  fig.  34  belongs  to  an  invading  people 
from  Syria  during  the  decadence  of  the  Old  Kingdom, 
between  the  Vllth  and  Xth  dynasties;  but  until 
some  example  with  an  original  name  may  be  found, 
it  is  useless  to  be  more  definite.  It  is  noticeable 
how  all  of  the  heads  of  this  type  are  in  black  granite, 
or  rarely  some  other  igneous  rock ;  this  suggests 
that  they  were  wrought  by  the  school  of  the  eastern 
desert,  and  may  therefore  not  be  controlled  by  the 
decadence  of  ordinary  Egyptian  work  between  the 
Old  and  Middle  Kingdoms. 

Whether  other  strange  works  in  black  granite — 
such  as  the  fish-ofiferersof  Tanis — belong  to  the  same 

39 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


age,  has  been  questioned.  1 1  may  be  noted,  however, 
that  the  sphinxes  and  the  black  granite  bust  from 
Alexandria  have  a  large  lachrymal  fossa,  while  the 
fish-offerers  have  no  fossa,  but  only  an  inner  angle 
to  the  eye.  The  so-called  Hyksos  figures  from 
Bubastis  are  not  really  of  this  type,  but  show  an  in- 
heritance of  some  of  its  characters,  such  as  belong 
to  the  royal  family  in  the  Xllth  dynasty.  When- 
ever the  royal  portraiture  of  the  Xllth  dynasty  is 
fully  collected  and  studied,  it  will  be  possible  to  clear 
the  attribution  of  many  statues,  and  so  to  separate 
those  wliich  really  belong  to  the  earlier  stock. 

On  coming  to  the  XVIIIth  dynasty  a  more  me- 
chanical style  prevails  (figs.  36-39).  This  is  obvious 
in  the  formal  raised  band  of  eyebrow,  and  the  eyes 
being  brought  forward  to  the  plane  of  the  forehead. 
The  lips  remain  more  natural,  and  are  still  treated 
expressively.  The  best  work  of  this  age  is  the  green 
basalt  statue  of  Tahutmes  1 1 1  in  Cairo  (fig.  37).  It 
accords  closely  with  another  figure  of  black  granite 
of  the  same  king ;  but  the  red  granite  head  in  the 
British  Museum  ismuch  coarser  and  less  expressive, 
as  is  natural  from  that  school  of  granite  work.  The 
large  nose  is  vouched  for  as  a  family  characteristic 
in  the  reliefs  of  Tahutmes  II  and  Hatshepsut  at 
Deir  el  Bahri,  which  have  precisely  the  same  out- 

40 


THE  STATUARY 


line  of  brow  and  nose  ;  the  under-side  of  the  nose, 
the  slightly  rising  curve  cf  the  lips  to  the  outer 
corner,  and  the  flatness  of  the  facing  of  the  lips,  seem 
to  be  individual  details. 

The  head  fig.  36  is  of  an  official  of  Amenhotep 
III,  in  quartzite.  It  has  a  fairly  good  outline  of 
the  cheek,  and  well-cut  lips  ;  and  it  shows  the  more 
florid  and  romantic  turn  of  this  age  in  the  wavy  hair 
marked  out  with  lines. 

Under  Akhenaten  (fig.  39)  there  came  a  revolu- 
tion of  art,  which  was  perhaps  only  a  culmination  of 
the  naturalistic  tendencies  that  were  growing  dur- 
ing the  preceding  reigns.  But  it  was  enforced  and 
supported  by  the  surrounding  changes  in  religion, 
ethics,  and  politics  which  were  carried  out  by  the 
humanist  reformer  who  ruled.  It  was  probably  also 
stimulated  by  the  influence  of  the  contemporary  art 
of  Crete  and  Greece,  the  whole  eastern  Mediter- 
ranean apparently  sharing  in  a  general  movement. 
We  shall  notice  this  further  when  considering  reliefs 
and  painting.  Of  round  sculpture  the  best  figure 
remaining  is  that  of  Akhenaten  now  in  Paris  (fig. 
39).  It  has  been  part  of  a  group  of  the  king  and 
queen  sitting  together,  and  it  shows  all  the  charac- 
teristics of  this  school  in  the  best  form.  The  eyes 
are  quite  natural;  the  lips  are  emphasised  by  a  sharp 

41 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


edge  along  their  borders ;  the  jaw  and  neck  are 
excellently  rendered  ;  and  the  ear,  with  its  large 
pierced  lobe,  is  clearly  true  to  life. 

Though  the  reforms  of  Akhenaten  mostly  perished 
with  him,  yet  the  training  of  his  artists  is  still  to  be 
seen  in  the  sculpture  of  Tut-ankh-amen  (fig.  38). 
This  has  not  the  professional  completeness  of  style 
seen  under  Tahutmes  III  (fig.  37),  but  it  carries  on 
the  less  precise  sentimentalism  of  Akhenaten  (fig. 
39),  with  much  feeling  for  expression  and  beauty, 
but  a  lack  of  grip  and  force.  The  brow  is  neglected, 
the  eye  is  feeble,  the  cheek  is  without  detail,  but 
the  lips  and  chin  are  enforced  as  far  as  possible. 
The  whole  effect  is  sweet  but  not  impressive. 

We  now  turn  to  the  minor  work  in  wood.  In 
the  Old  Kingdom,  wood  was  frequently  carved  on 
a  large  scale  ;  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  there  is  the 
statue  of  King  Hor  ;  but  under  the  New  Kingdom 
the  only  large  figures  are  some  rather  coarse  funeral 
statues.  On  the  other  hand,  in  small  figures  there 
is  a  profusion  of  wood-carving.  The  wooden  us- 
habtis  are  often  beautifully  treated  ;  the  draped 
figures  of  women  are  graceful  and  dignified,  with 
minute  working  of  the  hair  and  dress ;  the  grotesque 
figures  of  toilet  objects  are  full  of  character ;  but 
here  our  space  limits  us  to  one  class,  and  we  give 

42 


NEW   KINGDOxM  SCULPTURE 


36.  Under  Amenhotep  III  37.  Tahutmes  III 

38.  Tutankhamen  39.  Akhenaten 


NEW  KINGDOM  SCULPTURE 


Wood-carvings  of  girls  (XVIIIth  dynasty) 


THE  STATUARY 


the  nude  figures  (figs.  40-42),  as  such  are  rarely- 
found  in  other  material. 

The  little  negress  (fig.  40),  carved  in  ebony,  is 
part  of  a  group  representing  her  carrying  a  tray, 
which  is  supported  by  a  monkey  before  her.  But 
these  accessories  are  inferior,  and  merely  hide  the 
figure ;  the  edge  of  the  tray  has  been  slightly  cut 
in  on  the  breast  and  thus  disfigured  it.  The  detail 
of  this  statuette  is  better  than  any  other  such  work  ; 
the  perfect  pose  of  the  attitude,  the  poise  of  the 
head,  the  fulness  of  the  muscles,  the  innocent  gra- 
vity of  the  expression,  are  all  excellent. 

Other  figures  are  carved  in  the  handles  of  toilet 
trays.  The  girl  in  fig.  41  holding  flowers  and  birds 
is  on  a  smaller  and  coarser  scale  than  the  preceding, 
but  is  excellent  in  expression  and  in  the  modelling 
of  the  trunk.  The  damsel  playing  a  lute  on  her 
boat  amid  the  papyrus  thicket  (fig.  42)  shows  one 
of  the  graceful  adjuncts  of  water-parties  in  high  life. 
The  length  of  leg  is  exaggerated  to  harmonise  with 
the  long  stems  around ;  but  the  pose  is  skilfully 
seized,  the  distance  of  the  feet  being  needful  for 
balance  in  a  little  shallop,  while  the  cling  of  the 
thighs  is  maintained.  There  is  more  self-conscious- 
ness and  deliberate  effect  in  this  expression  than 
in  that  of  the  little  girls  seen  before. 

43 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


The  age  of  decadence  now  begins  with  the  Ra- 
messides.  One  fine  piece  arrests  us  in  the  black 
granite  statue  of  Ramessu  II  (fig.  43),  of  which  an 
entire  view  is  given  in  fig.  11.  The  whole  pose  is 
fairly  good,  the  face  looking  down  toward  the  spec- 
tator below.  The  king  is  no  longer  the  dignified 
organiser  of  the  Old  Kingdom,  with  a  vision  far 
away  beyond  everyday  matters,  but  he  is  obviously 
considering  the  opinion  of  the  man  in  front  of  him. 
The  detail  is  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  previous 
dynasty;  the  eye  is  natural,  the  nose  rather  formal, 
the  lips  with  the  sharp  edge  even  more  developed 
than  before,  and  the  chin  and  throat  less  modelled. 
The  elbow  is  carefully  wrought,  bringing  out  the 
fold  of  flesh  and  the  muscle  separately,  the  accuracy 
of  which  is  questionable. 

A  good  example  of  a  private  sculpture  is  the  head 
of  Bak-en-khonsu  (fig.  44).  The  eye  is  only  slightly 
indicated,  leaning  to  the  conventional  blocking  out 
seen  in  figs.  91  and  137.  The  profile  is  good,  and 
the  lips  are  less  exaggerated  than  in  the  royal  sta- 
tues. The  artist  could  give  all  his  attention  to  the 
face  alone,  as  the  figure  is  entirely  hidden  in  an 
almost  cubic  block,  which  represents  the  man  seated 
with  knees  drawn  up  before  the  chest. 

The  head  of  Merenptah  (fig.  45)  shows  him  as 

44 


THE  STATUARY 


inheriting  and  imitating  his  father's  face  and  atti- 
tude. The  style  is  cold  and  formal ;  the  eyes  are 
so  forward  as  to  be  even  beyond  the  plane  of  the 
forehead,  and  scarcely  capped  by  the  brow.  But 
the  nose  and  lips  are  natural  and  free  of  the  forcing 
which  is  seen  rather  earlier.  There  is  no  attempt 
at  any  delicacy  of  facial  curves,  and  the  chin  and 
throat  are  masked  by  the  official  beard.  As  this  is 
in  gray  granite,  and  was  executed  as  the  ka  statue 
of  the  king's  personal  temple,  it  may  be  taken  as 
the  best  that  could  be  done  at  that  time. 

A  different  feeling  comes  in  with  the  massive 
individual  portrait  of  Taharqa  (fig.  46).  The  facial 
muscles  are  strongly  marked,  but  the  mouth  is  singu- 
larly unformed,  and  is  exactly  the  opposite  of  that 
in  the  strong  type  of  fig.  34.  The  eyes  are  of  the 
gibbous  form,  with  a  long  slot  of  lachrymal  fossa, 
which  is  also  shown  in  the  kindred  figure  of  Queen 
Amenardys  (fig.  47).  The  style  is  not  akin  to  any 
other  Egyptian  work,  and  it  seems  as  if  an  entire- 
ly different  physiognomy  had  challenged  the  sculp- 
tor and  made  him  drop  his  usual  treatment  and 
study  Nature  afresh. 

The  alabaster  statue  of  Amenardys  (fig.  47)  is 
disproportioned  as  a  whole,  though  parts  are  good 
separately.   It  has  just  the  faults  due  to  an  imita- 

45 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


tor  who  does  not  trust  to  observation.  The  head 
is  too  large,  the  jointing  is  weak.  Each  of  the 
features  is  fairly  well  rendered ;  and  within  the 
limits  of  later  mannerism  there  is  no  forcing  or 
exaggeration. 

The  portrait  of  Mentu-em-hat  (fig.  48)  belongs  to 
the  same  style  as  that  of  Taharqa,  and  both  are  in 
black  granite.  The  eyes  seem  too  small,  but  this 
is  rather  due  to  the  depth  and  massiveness  of  the 
jaws,  which  overweight  the  face.  The  apparent  dis- 
proportion in  the  low  forehead  is  only  due  to  the 
photograph  being  taken  too  close  and  low  down. 
The  height  above  the  eyes  is  really  equal  to  that 
down  to  the  upper  edge  of  the  chin.  The  facial 
curves  are  carefully  observed,  and  we  can  well  credit 
this  with  being  a  true  portrait  of  the  capable  gover- 
nor of  Thebes  who  continued  in  office  under  Tahar- 
qa and  Tanut-amen,  and  who  repaired  the  devasta- 
tions of  the  Assyrian  invasion. 

A  head  broken  from  a  statue,  found  at  Memphis 
(fig.  49),  is  remarkable  for  the  deep  and  searching 
modelling.  The  bony  structure,  the  facial  muscles, 
and  the  surface  folds  are  all  scrupulously  observed. 
The  artist  s  triumph  is  shown  in  the  harmony  and 
the  living  character  which  he  has  infused  into  his 
laborious  precision.   Very  rarely  can  a  man  rise 

46 


LATE  SCULPTURE 


47.  Amenardys 
49.  Basalt  head 


4S.  Mentu-em-hat 
50.  Wooden  head 


THE  STATUARY 


superior  to  such  a  rigorous  training.  The  character 
of  work  is  scarcely  Egyptian  ;  it  belongs  rather  to 
the  same  school  as  the  republican  Roman  portraits, 
but  is  earlier  than  those,  as  it  has  more  precision  of 
detail. 

Lastly,  we  have  one  of  the  best  examples  of  Greek 
influence  in  Egypt  shown  by  the  wood-carving  of 
a  coffin  (fig.  50).  The  long  narrow  face  shaded  by 
thick  wavy  hair  is  Greek  in  feeling,  while  thefeather 
head-dress  is  old  Egyptian.  Unfortunately,  the 
decay  of  the  wood  has  broken  the  surface,  but  it 
still  remains  an  impressive  example  of  Egyptian 
influence  on  art  which  is  mainly  Greek. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  RELIEFS 

In  reliefs  the  representation  of  Nature  is  compli- 
cated by  the  inevitable  use  of  some  conventions, 
and  some  kind  of  perspective,  to  reduce  solid  ob- 
jects to  a  plane  delineation.  It  follows  that  for  the 
study  of  naturalistic  art  they  are  inferior  to  statuary, 
though  they  give  rise  to  a  whole  system  of  artistic 
conventions  which  are  of  interest  in  themselves. 
It  appears  that  among  most  races  drawings  pre- 
cede reliefs,  and  hence  relief  must  be  looked  on  as 
developed  drawing,  and  not  as  trammelled  statuary. 

The  oldest  reliefs  are  those  of  the  prehistoric 
ivory  carvings  (see  fig.  3),  in  which  we  see  main- 
tained the  pictorial  convention  of  crossing  lines  to 
substantiate  the  outline  of  a  solid  body,  although 
the  body  was  now  expressed  by  the  relief.  A  large 
quantity  of  ivory  reliefs  showing  rows  of  animals 
were  found  at  Hierakonpolis,  belonging  to  the 

48 


EARLIEST  RELIEFS 


51.  Hyaena  and  bull 
53.  Group  ol  animals 


52.  Gazelles  and  palm 
54.  King  Narmer 


THE  RELIEFS 


earliest  historic  times.  Of  the  same  class  are  the 
reliefs  upon  the  primitive  figures  from  Koptos  (fig. 
5 1 ).  These  comprise  the  elephant,  stag  s  head,  and 
swordfish,  as  well  as  the  hyaena  and  ox.  The  de- 
sign is  spirited,  and  seizes  the  characteristics  of  the 
animals  ;  while  hills  are  conventionally  shown  by 
lumps  under  each  foot.  The  method  of  work  is  by 
bruising  out  the  surface  with  a  pointed  stone  pick 
around  the  outline,  and  so  lowering  the  surround- 
ing ground  (here  shaded),  while  the  body  of  the 
animal  remains  of  the  original  face  of  the  stone. 

The  next  stage  is  that  of  the  astonishing  slate 
reliefs.  The  purely  artistic  motive  is  seen  in  the 
group  of  two  long-necked  gazelles  with  a  palm-tree 
(fig.  52).  The  detail  of  the  forms  of  the  joints  and 
the  general  pose  of  the  animals  is  excellent,  and 
the  feeling  for  the  graceful,  slender  outline  and 
smooth  surfaces  is  enforced  by  the  rugged  palm 
stem  placed  between  the  gazelles.  The  love  of  the 
strange  and  wild  elements  is  seen  in  the  rout  of 
animals,  real  and  mythical,  in  fig.  53,  which  shows 
the  lion,  giraffe,  wild  ox,  and  many  kinds  of  deer, 
well  known  to  the  early  artists. 

The  figure  of  King  Narmer  (fig.  54)  is  the  his- 
torical point  in  these  slate  carvings.  As  it  is  more 
advanced  in  style  than  any  of  the  others,  it  shows 

49  4 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


that  they  all  belong  to  the  age  just  before  the  1st 
dynasty,  about  5500  B.C.  Here  the  pose  and  joint- 
ing are  excellent,  and  the  muscles  are  proclaimed 
by  the  artist  as  the  results  of  his  observation.  The 
later  Egyptian  canon  is  observed  that  a  straight  line 
should  pass  through  the  middle  of  the  head,  middle 
of  the  trunk,  point  of  the  backward  knee,  and  middle 
between  the  heels  :  only,  as  the  king  is  here  lean- 
ing forward  in  action,  the  line  is  not  vertical  as  it 
is  in  later  standing  figures.  The  facial  characters 
of  the  king  and  his  foe  are  well  distinguished  ;  al- 
together five  different  types  of  race  are  shown  on 
these  early  carvings.  The  surface  of  the  slate  has 
been  worked  down  with  a  metal  scraper,  shown  by 
the  parallel  grooves  in  the  face. 

On  reaching  the  beginning  of  the  pyramid  age 
the  finest  work  is  seen  in  the  three  wooden  panels 
of  Ra-hesy  (fig.  ^^.frontispiece).  The  anatomy  is 
full,  though  not  so  excessive  as  in  the  earlier  work. 
The  facial  curves  are  carefully  rendered,  and  the 
mouth  is  excellently  formed.  The  eye  is  of  course 
placed  in  front  view,  as  it  always  was  by  Egyptians. 
The  whole  figure  has  an  air  of  stark  vigour,  which 
is  fitting  to  a  high  official  w^ho  managed  a  dozen 
different  offices. 

The  multitude  of  the  mastaba  tomb-chapels  of 

SO 


J 


OLD  KINGDOM  RELIEFS 


56.  The  sacrifice 


57.  The  ox-herd 


THE  RELIEFS 

the  pyramid  age  contain  so  many  thousands  of 
scenes,  illustrating  every  act  of  life  of  men  and 
animals,  that  it  is  impossible  to  give  any  view  of 
their  variety.  Here  we  can  only  give  two  scenes 
illustrating  composition.  In  fig.  56  is  a  group  of 
men  dragging  down  an  ox  for  sacrifice.  The  ar- 
rangement of  the  lines  is  clear,  each  figure  stands 
out  separately,  the  action  is  vigorous  and  simple. 
Another  scene  of  an  ox-herd  (fig.  57)  shows  quiet 
motion,  with  the  unusual  turning  of  the  head.  This 
might  be  thought  unnatural,  but  exactly  the  same 
twist  of  the  body  may  be  seen  among  Egyptians 
now.  This  style  of  relief  deteriorated  in  the  Vlth 
dynasty,  and  then  continuously  decayed  until  the 
middle  of  the  Xlth  dynasty,  by  which  time  it  has 
reached  a  most  degraded  state. 

Suddenly,  in  the  middle  of  the  Xlth  dynasty, 
a  new  style  of  careful  elaboration  begins  to  appear, 
a  true  archaic  germ  of  a  new  school.  This  rapidly 
grew,  until  at  the  later  part  of  that  dynasty  there  is 
a  stiff  and  over-elaborate  style,  which  is  well  shown 
in  the  figure  of  the  princess  Kauat  having  her  hair 
curled  (fig.  58).  The  eyes  of  all  the  figures  are  gib- 
bous, with  a  moderate  fossa  ;  the  lips  have  usually 
a  sharp  edge,  though  sometimes  merely  rounded ; 
and  there  is  the  beginning  of  facial  modelling. 

SI 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 

In  the  Xllth  dynasty  the  surface  modelling  be- 
came elaborate,  most  delicate  gradations  being 
wrought  with  faint  outlines,  as  seen  in  the  Mem- 
phite  head,  fig.  6.  A  bold  high  relief  and  simpler 
treatment  was  followed  by  the  Theban  school,  as 
in  fig.  59  of  the  god  Ptah  and  Senusert  I  embrac- 
ing. The  use  of  sunk  relief,  as  fig.  58,  was  as  early 
as  the  I  Vth  dynasty,  though  most  of  the  tomb  sculp- 
tures are  in  high  relief  Sunk  relief  became  com- 
moner in  the  MiddleKingdom,  and  almost  universal 
in  the  New  Kingdom.  It  saved  a  large  amount 
of  labour,  and  it  protected  the  sculptures  from  in- 
jury ;  but  it  is  so  forcible  a  convention  that  it  is 
never  so  pleasing  as  the  raised  work. 

The  XVIIIth  dynasty  opens  with  another  revi- 
val of  art,  but  yet  it  never  reached  the  levels  of 
the  earlier  ages.  The  profusion  of  reliefs  of  Thebes 
and  other  great  sites  has  made  the  style  of  the 
XVIIIth  and  XlXth  dynasties  the  most  familiar 
to  us,  but  its  inferiority  to  that  of  the  previous  pe- 
riods is  more  obvious  the  more  it  is  studied.  The 
sculptures  of  Hatshepsut  at  Deir  el  Bahri  are  cele- 
brated, yet  the  detail  in  fig.  60  is  not  rich.  There 
is  scarcely  any  modelling  of  face  or  muscles,  mere 
flat  surfaces  sufficing  ;  there  is  but  little  expression 
in  the  features ;  and  the  whole  effect  is  flat  and 

52 


MIDDLE   KINGDOM  RELIEFS 


58.  Toilet  of  princess  59.  Senusert  I  and  Ptah 


NEW  KINGDOM  RELIEFS 


60.  Hatshepsut  61.  Servant  of  Kha-em-hat 

62.  Akhenaten  and  queen 


THE  RELIEFS 


tame.  More  character  appears  under  Amenhotep 
III  (fig.  6i),  though  even  here  there  is  none  of  the 
muscular  detail  which  was  constantly  shown  in  early 
work.  The  features  smile  gracefully  without  any 
real  expression,  and  the  trivial  details  of  dress  are 
worked  out  to  give  a  picturesque  elaboration.  The 
taste  for  mere  prettiness  and  graceful  personalities 
ruled  more  and  more  as  the  XVIIIth  dynasty 
developed. 

At  last  this  taste,  stimulated  by  the  influence  of 
the  Greek  art  and  its  love  of  expressing  motion, 
broke  all  bounds  in  the  movement  under  Akhenaten. 
The  example  in  fig.  62  gives  the  essence  of  Atenism. 
The  natural  but  ungainly  attitudes,  the  flourishing 
ribands,  the  heavy  collars  and  kilt,  the  ungraceful 
realism  of  the  figures,  the  loss  of  all  expression  and 
detail  of  structure, — all  these  show  the  death  of  a 
permanentartinthe  feverof  noveltyand  vociferation. 

This  ferment  being  passed,  the  Egyptian  went 
back  on  his  older  style  ;  but  it  had  lost  its  life,  it 
could  only  be  copied.  The  exquisite  smoothness 
and  finish  of  the  good  work  of  Sety  I  at  Abydos 
is  entirely  lifeless  and  destitute  of  observation.  It 
has  no  anatomical  detail,  but  was  made  by  well-con- 
structed human  machines  who  could  not  express  an 
emotion  which  they  did  not  feel. 

S3 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


The  historical  scenes  of  the  great  sculptures  of 
Karnak  are  full  of  interest,  but  almost  destitute  of 
art.  Some  parts  of  the  work  of  Ramessu  III  at 
Medinet  Habu  show  more  observation,  such  as 
the  hunting  scene,  fig.  63.  The  wild  bulls  are  well 
studied,  and  the  marsh-plants  with  feathery  tops 
show  a  real  appreciation  of  natural  growth  and 
beauty. 

Under  the  XXVIth  dynasty  came  the  deliber- 
ate imitation  of  the  work  of  the  Old  Kingdom.  In 
a  few  cases  this  is  passably  done,  and  even  some 
invention  may  be  seen.  But  in  general  there  is  only 
a  lifeless  imitation  of  various  parts  clumsily  put  to- 
gether. One  of  the  best  pieces  of  such  art  is  the 
procession  of  youths  and  maids  carrying  animals 
and  farm  produce  (fig.  64).  The  forms  are  true, 
there  is  none  of  the  later  exaggeration  (as  in  fig. 
10),  and  there  is  a  loving  touch  in  the  details, 
especially  of  the  animals,  which  belongs  to  the  true 
artist.  Observe  how  the  girls  carry  the  flowers  and 
the  birds,  while  the  boys  take  the  heavy  loads  of 
papyrus  stems  and  a  calf  and  a  basket  of  flour. 
Such  work  is  the  last  flicker  of  Egyptian  art  in 
reliefs,  and  nothing  later  claims  our  notice. 


LATE  RELIEFS 


4 


63.  Bulls  in  marshes 


64.  Bearers  of  offerings 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  PAINTING  AND  DRAWING 

Painting  is  certainly  the  earliest  art  of  Egypt ; 
but,  being  more  perishable  than  sculpture,  many 
periods  of  it  are  hardly  represented  at  present.  A 
very  early  prehistoric  vase,  painted  with  white  slip 
on  the  red  ground,  shows  the  crude  figures  of  two 
men  fighting  (fig.  65).  Other  such  vases  have  plants 
and  other  objects  painted.  From  the  middle  of  the 
prehistoric  age,  belonging  to  the  second  civilisation, 
are  the  light-brown  vases  painted  in  red,  with  fig- 
ures of  ships  and  people  (fig.  66),  plants,  and  imita- 
tions of  stone  and  wicker  patterns.  The  joints  are 
fairly  correct  in  the  men  and  animals,  though  de- 
ficient in  the  woman  with  raised  arms.  Butthewhole 
air  is  very  crude  as  compared  with  the  roughest 
efforts  of  the  dynastic  race.  Anotherpainting  rather 
later  in  the  prehistoric  age  is  the  ship  from  a  tomb 
fresco  (fig.  67).   The  arms  of  the  woman  are  more 

55 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


correctly  drawn  as  straight,  but  the  men  are  worse 
posed  than  in  the  earlier  work.  The  idea  of  the 
figures  seen  above  the  ships,  but  entirely  detached 
from  them,  may  be  that  they  are  seen  on  the  oppo- 
site bank  of  a  narrow  river,  beyond  the  ships. 

The  advanced  painting  of  the  early  pyramid 
times  is  shown  by  the  geese  (fig.  68),  stalking  along 
in  a  meadow  amid  tufts  of  herbage.  Theairof  grave 
self-sufficiency  is  admirably  caught,  and  this  small 
piece  of  a  great  wall-scene  at  Medum  is  deservedly 
admired.  Of  the  Middle  Kingdom  there  is  no  fine 
example  remaining. 

The  great  age  of  painting  was  the  XVIIIth  and 
XlXth  dynasties.  The  sculpturing  of  tombs  was 
then  abandoned  in  favour  of  the  cheaper  paint ;  and 
the  taste  of  the  age  for  graceful  and  light  treatment 
found  its  best  scope  in  the  use  of  the  brush.  Here 
we  have  a  group  of  pelicans  (fig.  69)  with  an  old 
herdsman  and  baskets  of  eggs.  Next  (fig.  70)  is  a 
harvest  scene.  Two  men  are  carrying  a  load  of  the 
ears  of  corn  in  a  net.  Behind  are  the  stalks  of  straw 
after  the  ears  have  been  cut.  Two  girls  who  were 
gleaning  have  stopped  to  quarrel  over  the  corn  ;  one 
has  seizeda  wrist  of  the  other,  and  the  two  free  hands 
have  each  taken  a  grip  of  the  other  one's  hair. 
To  the  right,  under  a  sycomore  fig-tree,  one  boy 

56 


EARLIEST  PAINTING 


65.^  First  age  of  prehistoric  painting  66.  Second  age 

67,  Ship  on  wall-painting  68.  Geese  of  Medum 


NEW   KINGDOM  PAINTING 


69.  Pelicans  and  keeper 


70,  71.  Harvest  scenes 


THE  PAINTING  AND  DRAWING 

is  asleep,  while  another  plays  on  a  long  reed  pipe, 
with  a  water-skin  hung  over  his  head.  I  n  the  lower 
line  a  girl  with  a  thorn  in  her  foot  is  stretching  it 
out  to  be  examined  by  another  girl.  Further,  a  lad 
is  stripping  the  heads  of  millet  by  dragging  them 
through  a  fixed  fork.  The  whole  scene  is  full  of 
incident,  and  the  drawing  of  the  figures  in  unusual 
action  is  excellent.  The  curious  dress  of  the  men 
is  a  linen  waist-cloth,  with  a  net  of  slit  leather-work 
to  take  the  wear,  and  a  solid  piece  of  leather  left  in 
the  middle  of  it  for  sitting  on,  as  in  fig.  140.  Such 
slit  leather-work  is  dealt  with  in  the  last  chapter. 

A  third  scene  (fig.  71)  is  in  the  harvest  field  ; 
the  ears  have  been  put  into  a  net,  and  to  press  them 
down  a  stick  is  passed  through  a  hole  on  one  edge, 
while  a  man  has  hooked  his  arm  over  the  stick,  and 
jumped  up  so  as  to  bring  his  weight  with  a  jerk  to 
press  the  stick  down  ;  with  his  other  hand  he  holds 
the  end  of  a  cord  tied  to  the  net,  so  as  to  be  ready  to 
secure  the  stick  when  pressed  down  and  prevent  it 
springing  up  again.  The  spirit  shown  in  this  action 
is  very  good,  and  it  is  perhaps  the  only  figure  given 
in  the  act  of  jumping.  On  the  left  is  a  young  woman, 
one  of  the  daughters,  behind  the  owner  of  the  tomb; 
on  the  right  is  a  gleaning  girl,  stopping  in  the  tall 
corn  to  drink,  with  her  basket  set  on  the  ground. 

57 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


On  the  next  plate  a  portion  of  a  ceiling  pattern 
(fig.  72)  shows  how  such  designs  were  drawn.  The 
rhombic  lines  were  done  first,  then  the  dark  ground- 
work, leaving  white  discs,  and  lastly  these  were  filled 
up  with  the  spirals.  The  whole  was  copied  from 
appliqud  leather- work,  with  lines  of  stitching. 

A  boating  scene  (fig.  73)  shows  the  beautifully 
bold,  clean  lines  of  the  drawing,  for  which  in  this 
case  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  prelimi- 
nary sketch  of  position.  The  crouching  girl  picking 
a  lotus  bud  from  the  water  is  very  unusual.  The 
drawing  of  wavy  water-lines,  with  lotus  flowers,  is 
the  general  convention,  and  the  figures  of  fish  and 
birds  are  often  seen. 

A  scene  at  a  party  (fig.  74)  shows  the  guests 
seated  on  the  ground  holding  lotus  flowers,  while  a 
serving-girl  stretches  forward  to  arrange  the  ear- 
rings of  one  of  the  guests. 

Painting  received  a  great  stimulus  under  Akhen- 
aten  :  the  new  movement  suited  the  brush  much 
better  than  the  chisel.  The  two  figures  of  the  prin- 
cesses (fig.  76)  show  possibilities  which  were  not 
then  fully  carried  out.  The  conventional  attitudes 
are  dropped,  and  the  actual  positions  of  two  little 
girls  are  carefully  copied.  The  elder  is  seated  on  a 
cushion,  with  the  knees  drawn  up,  and  resting  one 

58 


THE  PAINTING  AND  DRAWING 


arm  on  the  knee,  while  with  the  other  hand  she 
pushes  up  her  Httle  sister's  chin.  The  younger  has 
none  of  this  self-possession,  but  is  propping  herself 
up  with  one  arm,  while  she  clings  to  her  elder  s 
shoulder  with  the  other.  The  drawing  is  free  and 
true,  within  the  usual  conventions  of  perspective. 
Further,  the  colouring  has  shade  on  the  backs  of  the 
figures,  and  a  high  light  on  the  thigh  of  the  younger 
daughter.  Such  shade  does  not  appear  in  Greek 
art  till  a  thousand  years  later.  The  pattern  in  front 
is  the  border  of  the  carpet  on  which  the  queen  was 
seated,  her  foot  and  drapery  appearing  above. 

A  surprising  drawing  which  belongs  to  the  same 
school  of  observation  is  the  tumbler  (fig.  75).  Here 
an  acrobatic  position  is  so  skilfully  drawn  as  to 
suggest  its  truth  and  to  avoid  any  impossibility. 
The  form  of  each  part  is  admirable  ;  and  if  we  trace 
it  piece  by  piece  into  an  upright  position,  the  re- 
sulting figure  is  correctly  proportioned,  except  in  the 
length  of  the  arms.  In  reality  such  an  attitude  re- 
quires the  hands  to  rest  on  the  finger-tips  where  the 
wrist  now  is  drawn.  As  a  drawing  of  a  violent  atti- 
tude this  is  a  marvellous  work,  not  only  for  the 
directness  and  perfection  of  the  line,  but  also  for  the 
complete  lightness  and  swing  of  the  whole  figure. 

Another  good  piece  of  action  is  the  man  (fig.  77) 

59 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


who  is  standing  on  a  boat  s  cabin  hauling  in  a  rope. 
The  dead-weight  of  the  body  is  well  thrown  back  ; 
and  as  the  base  is  small,  one  leg  is  kept  in  reserve 
behind  so  as  to  recover  any  slip.  The  dead  pull, 
with  both  feet  planted  together  and  the  whole  body 
rigidly  leaning  back,  is  often  drawn  in  the  early 
fishing  scenes ;  but  such  an  attitude  would  be  unsafe 
when  standing  on  the  top  of  a  narrow  cabin. 

We  now  turn  to  outline  drawing,  in  which  the 
Egyptians  always  had  a  grand  facility.  There  is 
no  instance,  even  in  degraded  times,  of  an  outline 
made  as  in  modern  work  by  little  tentative  touches 
feeling  the  way.  If  they  made  a  mistake,  they  at 
least  ''sinned  splendidly.''  The  long  free  strokes, 
always  taking  the  whole  length  of  a  bone  at  once, 
and  often  going  down  a  whole  figure  without  raising 
the  hand — even,  true,  without  a  quiver  or  hesita- 
tion— shame  most  modern  outlines.  The  group  of 
heads  (fig.  78)  shows  well  the  amount  of  character 
given  by  a  simple  outline.  The  furthest  is  a  negro, 
the  next  a  Syrian,  the  third  an  Abyssinian,  the  last 
a  Libyan.  The  type  of  each  is  shown  with  zest  and 
energy,  and  the  line-work  could  not  be  improved. 

In  fig.  79  is  a  very  rough  sketch  for  a  little  tab- 
let of  adoration.  It  shows  the  faint  outlines  in  red 
which  were  laid  in  first  to  space  out  the  figure. 

60 


NEW  KINGDOM  DRAWING 


77.  The  boatman  hauling 
79.  Sketched  tablet 


78.  The  four  races 
80.  Tomb  decoration 


THE  PAINTING  AND  DRAWING 


Such  were  used  in  nearly  all  cases  as  a  preliminary 
guide  ;  but  they  were  freely  improved  on  in  the  final 
black  drawing,  as  here  the  whole  base  has  been 
lowered.  This  also  shows  the  sketch-forms  of  hiero- 
glyphic writing. 

The  final  work  for  a  royal  tomb  is  seen  in  fig.  80, 
Sety  I  offering  to  Osiris.  We  can  here  admire  the 
perfect  freedom  and  exactitude  of  the  handling, 
although  this  was  only  intended  as  a  guide  to  the 
sculptor,  and  was  not  to  be  finally  visible. 

A  large  branch  of  drawing  which  we  have  not 
space  to  illustrate  here  is  that  of  the  papyri  and 
hieroglyphs.  The  papyri  show  the  clear,  fine  out- 
lines in  the  good  examples.  In  later  times,  rough 
as  the  work  may  be,  the  feeling  for  expression  never 
deserts  the  artist.  The  hieroglyphs  form  a  great 
study  by  themselves.  The  sources  of  the  signs,  the 
various  treatment  of  them,  the  minute  details  intro- 
duced, are  all  full  of  interest.  The  great  result  was 
that  the  Egyptian  had  a  writing  which,  though 
cumbrous,  was  a  continual  pleasure  to  see,  and 
which  adorned  the  artistic  monuments  on  which  it 
was  placed. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  ARCHITECTURE 


Strange  to  say,  Egyptian  architecture  has  never 
yet  been  systematically  studied  ;  we  know  nothing 
of  its  proportions  and  variations. 

The  earliest  constructions  were  of  brick,  or  of 
palm-sticks  interwoven.  From  the  necessary  forms 
of  these  all  the  details  of  the  stone  architecture  have 
been  copied.  A  parallel  is  seen  in  Greece,  where  the 
architecture  was  an  exact  transcription  of  a  wooden 
building,  the  triglyphs,  mutules,  and  guttae  being 
the  beam-ends,  tie-boards,  and  pegs  formerly  be- 
longing to  woodwork. 

For  the  greater  security  of  the  corners  of  brick 


copied  in  the  stonework,  and  is  seen  on  the  outsides 

62 


buildings,  the  Egyptians 
tilted  the  courses  up  at  each 
end,  thus  building  in  a  con- 
cave bed,  with  faces  sloping 
inwards.    This  slope  was 


THE  ARCHITECTURE 


of  all  Egyptian  buildings  (see  fig.  83).  The  inside 
faces  are  always  vertical,  and  this  serves  to  distin- 
guish the  meaning  of  small  portions  of  wall  in 
excavations. 

Slight  structures  were  made  of  palm-sticks,  set 
upright,  and  lashed  to  a  cross  stick  ^  ^,  vf^l 
near  the  top,  with  other  palm-sticks 
interwoven  to  stiffen  the  face,  and 
the  whole  plastered  with  mud. 
Such  construction  is  made  now  in 
Egypt,  and  is  seen  in  the  earliest 
figures  of  shrines.  At  the  top  the 
ends  of  the  palm-sticks  nod  over,  and  form  a  fence 
to  keep  out  intruders.  This  row  of  tops  is  the 
origin  of  the  stone  cavetto  cornice,  which  always 
stands  free  above  the  level  of  the  roof. 
At  the  corners  the  structure  of  palm- 
stick  was  strengthened  by  a  bundle  of 
sticks  or  reeds  lashed  round,  and  put  as 
a  buffer  to  prevent  a  blow  breaking  in 
L  the  edge.  This  became  the  roll  with 
lashing  pattern  which  is  seen  down  the  edges  of 
the  stone  buildings,  and  also  beneath  the  cavetto 
cornice  where  it  is  copied  from  the  line  of  sticks 
below  the  loose  tops  (see  fig.  83). 

Another  form  of  construction  was  with  papyrus 

63 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


stems.  These  had  a  loose,  wiry  head  like  an  Egui- 
setum  or  mare  s  tail.  When  used  for  a  cabin  on  a 
boat,  the  roofing  stems  were  put  through  the  loose 


head,  which  was  tied  above  and  below  to  hold  them. 
Hence  the  row  of  heads  became  copied  as  an  orna- 
ment along  the  tops  of  walls,  and  continued  in  use 
thus  down  to  the  latest  times. 

The  use  of  the  arch  was  familiar  from  early  times. 
Even  before  the  pyramid-builders  small  arches  of 
bricks  were  made.  They  were  the  general  mode  of 
roofing  in  the  Xllth  dynasty,  when  we  see  them 
drawn  and  imitated  in  stone.  From  the  XlXth 
dynasty  there  remain  the  great  arched  store-rooms 
of  the  Ramesseum.  Being  of  dried  mud  brick, 
which  is  far  more  easily  crushed  than  stone  or  burnt 
brick,  the  circular  form  was  not  suitable,  as  the  apex 
would  yield  by  crushing.   A  more  or  less  parabolic 


64 


THE  ARCHITECTURE 


form  was  therefore  used,  so  as  to  give  a  sharper 
curve  at  the  top.  To  protect  these  arches  from  the 
weather,  they  were  laid  four  courses  thick,  with  a 
deep  layer  of  sand  and  gravel  over  the  top,  to  absorb 
any  rain  as  a  sponge. 

Arches  were  usually  built  without  any  centring; 
and  to  this  day  the  Egyptian  similarly  builds  arches 
and  domes  of  any  size  without  centring  or  support. 
Each  ring  of  arch  is  laid  on  a  sloping  bed,  so  that 
the  thin  arch  bricks  on  edge  will  stick  in  place  by 
the  mud-mortar  until  the  ring  is  completed.  The 
same  construction  is  started  in  each  corner  of  a 
room  until  the  arching  meets  in  a  circle,  when  the 
dome  is  carried  round  ring  on  ring,  increasing  the 
dip  toward  the  top.  The  successive  coats  of  an 
arch  are  often  bedded  on  opposite  slopes,  so  that 
the  rings  cross  each  other. 

The  outer  form  of  a  temple  was  always  a  blank 
wall  on  all  sides,  as  at  Edfu,  which  preserves  its 
circuit  wall  complete.  Usually  the  outer  wall  has 
been  removed  for  building  (fig.  83),  and  the  inner 
courts  with  columns  are  exposed.  In  further  ruin  all 
the  walls  of  squared  blocks  are  gone,  and  only  a 
group  of  pillars  is  left  on  the  site. 

A  typical  building  of  the  early  age  is  the  temple 
of  red  granite  built  by  Khafra  at  Gizeh  (fig.  81). 

65  5 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


The  pillars  are  41  inches  square,  and  there  are 
sixteen  of  them  in  the  two  halls.  The  work  is  per- 
fectly plain  ;  not  a  trace  of  ornament  is  to  be  seen 
in  this  orother  temples  of  the  1 1  Ird-IVth  dynasties. 
Only  on  the  outside  was  there  a  panelling,  like  that 
on  the  brick  buildings  and  stone  sarcophagi  of  this 
age.  The  masonry  of  this  temple  is  much  less 
exact  than  that  of  the  early  pyramids.  The  whole 
effect  of  it  is  grand  and  severe,  with  the  noble 
breadth  which  belongs  to  the  early  times. 

The  tower  front  of  the  temple  at  Medinet  Habu 
(fig.  82)  is  one  of  the  few  fa9ades  that  is  preserved. 
It  was  copied  from  the  Syrian  fortresses,  and  shows 
how  the  Asiatic  influences  had  entered  Egypt  dur- 
ing the  three  centuries  from  about  1 500  to  1 200  B.C. 

The  most  complete  view  of  a  whole  temple  is 
that  of  Dakkeh  (fig.  83).  The  girdle  wall  has  been 
destroyed,  thus  exposing  the  components  of  the 
temple  clearly.  At  the  left  is  the  great  pylon,  the 
gateway  through  the  girdle  wall.  This  led  to  the 
portico,  which  was  the  front  of  the  house  of  the  god, 
like  the  porticoes  to  human  houses.  Behind  this  a 
cross  passage,  of  which  the  door  is  seen  at  the  side, 
passed  in  front  of  the  shrine  and  its  ante-chamber. 
This  was  one  of  the  most  perfect  small  temples, 
but  it  has  been  much  destroyed  in  recent  years. 

66 


ARCHITKCTURK 


8i.  Granite  temple       82.  Medinet  Habu       83.  Uakkeh 


EARLIEST  FORMS  OF  COLUMN 


84.  Palm  capital  85.  Rose  lotus  86.  Blue  lotus 


THE  ARCHITECTURE 


The  massive  square  pillars  of  the  granite  temple 
gave  place  before  long  to  more  ornamental  forms. 
The  principal  types  are  the  palm  and  lotus  in  the 
Vth  dynasty,  and  later  the  papyrus.  The  palm 
capital  is  shown  on  the  granite  columns  of  Unas 
(fig.  84).  It  was  probably  derived  from  a  bundle 
of  palm-sticks  bound  together  and  plastered  with 
mud  to  stiffen  them,  like  the  bundles  of  maize- 
stalks  which  are  still  used  for  columns.  Around  the 
top  of  it  some  of  the  loose  ends  of  the  palm-sticks 
were  left  with  the  leaves  to  form  a  head. 

The  lotus  capital  appears  likewise  as  a  shaft  de- 
corated with  buds  around  it  (fig.  85).  In  this  case 
the  buds  are  the  short,  thick  ones  of  the  rose  lotus, 
with  flowers  of  the  blue  lotus  put  in  the  intervals 
under  the  abacus.  But  the  lotus  bud  soon  became 
treated  as  a  solid  support,  and  in  the  capital  of  the 
blue  lotus  (fig.  86)  the  whole  is  formed  of  four  lotus 
buds.  The  bands  of  the  tie  were  always  strongly 
marked, however  changed  the  capital  might  become 
in  later  time.  The  papyrus  column  belongs  mainly 
to  the  XlXth  dynasty,  as  in  the  great  hall  of  Kar- 
nak.  It  was  the  most  incongruous  of  all,  as  a  single 
gigantic  head  of  loose  filaments  was  represented  as 
supporting  the  whole  weight. 

Plain  polygonal  shafts  were  also  common.  Some 

67 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


octagonal  ones  occur  in  the  Vth  dynasty.  In  the 
Xllth  dynasty  they  are  sixteen-sided,  keeping 
the  four  main  faces  flat  and  slightly  hollowing  the 
others.  This  was  continued  in  the  earlier  part  of 
the  XVIIIth  dynasty,  but  after  that  the  polygonal 
form  almost  disappears. 

Here  we  can  only  touch  on  some  of  the  artistic 
elements ;  the  architecture  as  a  whole  is  beyond 
the  scope  of  so  small  a  volume. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  STONE-WORKING 

We  here  begin  to  deal  with  the  more  technical 
rather  than  the  purely  artistic  view — the  crafts  as 
well  as  the  arts.  Connected  with  the  last  chapter 
is  the  study  of  the  materials  and  methods  used  for 
the  architecture. 

Limestone  was  the  main  material  of  the  land,  the 
Eocene  cliffs  fencing  in  the  Nile  valley  along  four 
hundred  miles.  The  two  finest  kinds  are  the  Mo- 
kattam  stone  opposite  the  pyramids,  which  is  per- 
fectly uniform  and  free  from  splitting  or  flaws  ;  and 
the  hard  silicified  stone  occurring  at  Tell  el  Amarna 
and  elsewhere.  The  next  commonest  material  was 
soft  sandstone  from  Silsileh,  used  generally  after 
the  middle  of  the  XVIIIth  dynasty,  especially  in 
the  Thebaid.  The  less  usual  stones  are  the  red 
granite  of  Aswan,  which  was  used  from  the  1st 
dynasty  onwards;  the  quartzite  sandstone  of  Gebel 

69 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Ahmar  near  Cairo,  begun  on  a  large  scale  by  the 
XI I th  dynasty ;  xbasalt  from  Khankah  and  other 
eruptions,  used  in  the  lVth  and  XlXth  dynasties  ; 
alabaster  from  the  quarries  near  Tell  el  Amarna ; 
and  diorite,  used  by  the  pyramid  builders  only. 

The  quarrying  of  the  limestone  was  usually  by 
large  galleries  run  into  the  best  strata.  Blocks  of 
two  or  three  feet  in  size  were  cut  out  by  picking  a 
trench  wide  enough  for  the  arm  to  pass  downward 
around  the  block,  and  then  inward  below  it,  until 
it  could  be  cracked  away  from  the  bed.  The  blocks 
were  thus  cut  out  in  regular  rows,  from  top  to 
bottom  of  the  gallery  face.  The  same  method  is 
still  kept  up  in  the  open-air  quarry  at  Helwan.  For 
larger  blocks  a  trench  eighteen  inches  wide,  in  which 
the  workman  could  pass,  was  cut  around  the  block. 
In  the  sandstone  quarries  the  same  mode  of  cutting 
was  followed,  only  the  quarry  was  open  to  the  sky. 
So  carefully  was  inferior  stone  rejected,  that  instead 
of  followinof  cracks  in  the  rock,  a  wall  of  stone  was 
left  on  each  side  of  a  crack ;  and  such  walls,  each 
containing  a  fissure,  divide  the  quarry  to  its  whole 
depth. 

The  granite  was  first  obtained  from  loose  water- 
worn  blocks  at  the  Cataract,  a  great  advantage  of 
such  a  source  being  that  any  cracks  are  made  vis- 

70 


THE  STONE-WORKING 


ible.  Later  it  was  quarried  in  the  bed  ;  a  large  mass 
still  in  the  quarry  has  been  trimmed  and  marked 
across  to  be  cut  up  for  shrines  or  sarcophagi.  The 
early  mode  of  Assuring  was  by  cutting  a  groove 
and  jumping  holes  through  the  thickness  of  the 
stone,  to  determine  the  direction  of  the  fissure. 
Probably  the  active  force  was  dried  wood  driven  in 
and  wetted,  as  there  is  no  trace  of  bruising  by 
metal  wedges  on  the  sides  of  the  groove.  In  later 
times,  instead  of  holes,  mere  pockets  were  sunk 
rather  deeper  in  the  groove  to  hold  the  splitting 
agent. 

For  cutting  passages  or  chambers  in  rock,  the 
method  was  to  make  a  rough  drift-way,  then  finish  a 
true  plane  for  the  roof,  next  mark  an  axis  upon  the 
roof  plane,  trim  the  sides  true  to  the  distance  from  a 
plumb  bob  held  at  the  axis,  and  finally  smooth  the 
floor  to  a  uniform  distance  from  the  roof  In  a  rock 
chamber  the  roof  was  finished  first,  and  a  shaft  was 
sunk  to  the  intended  depth  of  the  chamber  to  mark 
it  out. 

The  surfaces  of  rock  and  of  dressed  stones  were 
picked  smooth  by  a  short  adze,  with  cuts  crossing 
in  all  directions.  The  edges  of  a  stone  were  first 
dressed  true,  and  then  the  space  between  was  re- 
ferred to  the  edges.    To  do  this,  two  offset  sticks 

71 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


with  a  string  stretched  between  the  tops  of  them 
were  stood  on  the  edges,  and  a  third  offset  was  used 
to  test  the  depth  to  the  face,  so  as  to  see  how  much 
was  to  be  cut  away.  For  larger  stones,  a  diagonal 
draft-line  was  cut  true  as  well  as  the  edge  drafts,  so 
as  to  avoid  any  twist.  The  face  was  finally  tested 
with  a  portable  plane  smeared  with  red  ochre,  and 
wherever  that  left  a  touch  of  red,  the  stone  was 
cut  down  ;  this  was  continued  until  the  red  touched 
at  intervals  of  not  more  than  an  inch.  This  was  the 
quality  of  face  for  joints;  but  itwas  further  smoothed 
by  grinding  on  outer  finished  surfaces.  The  rough 
hewing  of  rock  tombs  was  generally  done  with  mauls 
of  silicified  limestone,  which  is  found  as  nodules  left 
on  the  surface. 

The  granite  and  hard  stones  were  also  sawn,  and 
cut  with  tubular  drills.  The  saws  were  blades  of 
copper,  which  carried  the  hard  cutting  points.  The 
cutting  material  was  sand  for  working  the  softer 
stones,  and  emery  for  harder  rocks.  As  far  back  as 
prehistoric  times,  blocks  of  emery  were  used  for 
grinding  beads,  and  even  a  plummet  and  a  vase  were 
cut  out  of  emery  rock  (now  in  University  College). 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  therefore,  of  emery  being 
known  and  used. 

The  difficult  question  is  whether  the  cutting  ma- 

72 


THE  STONE-WORKING 

terial  was  used  as  loose  powder,  or  was  set  in  the 
metal  tool  as  separate  teeth.  An  actual  example  was 
found  at  the  prehistoric  Greek  palace  of  Tiryns. 
The  hard  limestone  there  has  been  sawn,  and  I 
found  a  broken  bit  of  the  saw  left  in  a  cut.  The 
copper  blade  had  rusted  away  to  green  carbonate ; 
and  with  it  were  some  little  blocks  of  emery  about 
a  sixteenth  of  an  inch  long,  rectangular,  and  quite 
capable  of  being  set,  but  far  too  large  to  act  as  a 
loose  powder  with  a  plain  blade.   On  the  Egyptian 
examples  there  are  long  grooves  in  the  faces  of  the 
cuts  of  both  saws  and  drills  ;  and  grooves  may  be 
made  by  working  a  loose  powder.    But,  further,  the 
groove  certainly  seems  to  run  spirally  round  a  core, 
which  would  show  that  it  was  cut  by  a  single  point  ; 
and  where  quartz  and  softer  felspar  are  cut  through 
the  groove  floor  runs  on  one  level,  and  as  the  fel- 
spar is  worn  down  by  general  rubbing,  the  quartz  is 
actually  cut  through  to  a  greater  depth  than  the 
softer  felspar.  This  shows  that  a  fixed  cutting  point 
ploughed  the  groove,  and  not  a  loose  powder.  Also, 
the  hieroglyphs  on  diorite  bowls  are  ploughed  out 
with  a  single  cut  of  a  fixed  point,  only  one  hundred 
and  fiftieth  of  an  inch  wide,  so  it  is  certain  that  fixed 
cutting  points  were  used  for  hand-graving.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  sawing  and  grinding  with  loose 

73 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


powder  was  the  general  method,  but  the  use  of  fixed 
stones  seems  clearly  shown  by  the  instances  above. 

The  large  hieroglyphs  on  hard  stones  were  cut 
by  copper  blades  fed  with  emery,  and  sawn  along 
the  outline  by  hand  ;  the  block  between  the  cuts 
was  broken  out,  and  the  floor  of  the  sign  was  ham- 
mer-dressed, and  finally  ground  down  with  emery. 
Hammer-dressing  was  largely  used  in  all  ages  on 
the  hard  stones ;  the  blows  crushed  the  stone  to 
powder,  and  the  stunning  of  the  surface  was  often 
not  quite  removed  by  grinding,  and  shows  as  white 
spots.  The  hammer  was  usually  of  black  hornstone, 
a  tough  amorphous  quartz  rock. 

The  methods  of  placing  the  stones  in  the  build- 
ing have  been  often  debated.  The  foundations  were 
usually  laid  on  a  bed  of  clean  sand,  and  this  en- 
abled the  whole  course  to  be  accurately  adjusted 
level  to  begin  with.  For  temples,  it  seems  most 
likely  that  the  interior  was  filled  with  earth  as  the 
building  advanced  ;  and  thus  the  walls,  drums,  and 
architraves  could  be  as  easily  dealt  with  as  on  the 
lowest  course.  This  plan  is  successfully  used  at 
Karnak  in  present  repairs.  But  where  stones  needed 
to  be  raised  for  a  pyramid  or  a  pylon,  some  stag- 
ing was  required.  Remains  of  a  massive  brick  slope 
still  stand  against  each  face  of  the  unfinished  pylons 

74 


THE  STONE-WORKING 


at  Karnak.  This,  however,  is  only  the  general  mass 
of  the  staging,  and  the  actual  steps  for  the  stones 
must  have  been  of  stone,  as  brick  would  crumble  to 
powder  if  any  lifting  work  was  done  directly  upon  it. 
For  short  blocks  a  cradle  of  wood  was  used,  of 


^mmm 

mm 

which  many  models  have  been  found  in  foundation 
deposits  along  with  model  tools.  On  tilting  this  to 
one  end,  and  putting  a  wedge  beneath  it,  it  could  be 
rocked  up  the  slope,  and  so  gradually  raised,  first  to 
one  end  and  then  to  the  other.  For  large  blocks, 
the  actual  lifting  was  probably  done  by  rocking  up. 
If  a  beam  be  supported  by  two  piles  near  the  middle, 

75 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


a  small  force  will  tilt  it  up  clear  of  one  pile ;  on 
raising  that  pile  the  beam  may  be  tilted  the  other 
way,  and  the  lower  pile  raised  in  its  turn.  Thus 
rocking  from  pile  to  pile,  a  beam  can  be  quickly 
raised  till  it  is  high  enough  to  be  moved  on  to  the 
next  step.  It  was  probably  thus  that  the  fifty-six 
granite  beams,  weighing  over  fifty  tons  each,  were 
raised  in  the  pyramid  of  Khufu. 

The  obelisks  were  transported  on  great  barges, 
as  shown  in  the  sculptures.  The  method  of  raising 
such  stones  is  partly  explained  by  an  account  of  set- 
ting up  colossi  of  Ramessu  IV.  A  causeway  of  earth 
was  made  sloping  up  for  a  length  of  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  ;  it  was  ninety-five  feet  wide,  and  one  hundred 
and  three  feet  high  on  the  slope,  probably  about 
sixty  or  seventy  feet  vertically,  as  the  slopes  were 
held  up  steeply  with  facings  of  timber  and  brush- 
wood. The  purpose  of  this  evidently  was  to  raise 
the  great  block  by  sliding  on  its  side  up  the  slope, 
and  then  to  tilt  it  upright  by  gravity  over  the  head 
of  the  slope.  How  the  mass  would  be  turned  we 
have  nothing  to  show,  but  probably  the  simplest 
way,  by  gradually  removing  earth,  would  be  followed. 
By  next  ramming  earth  beneath  the  obelisk  as  it  lay 
on  a  slope,  it  would  be  quite  practicable  to  force  it 
forward  into  an  upright  position. 

76 


METHODS  OF  SCULPTURE 


88.  Trial  piece  of  learner 
90.  Lion's  head  drafted 


89    Rough  drafting 

91    Head  nearly  finished 


THE  STONE-WORKING 

After  a  building  was  finished  the  sculpturing  of 
its  walls  had  to  be  executed.  For  this,  a  long  train- 
ing of  sculptors  was  needful,  and  the  art  schools 
filled  an  important  part  in  education.  The  simplest 
subjects  of  outlines  in  limestone  were  a  first  step, 
the  sign  neb  requiring  a  straight  and  a  curved  line 
only.  After  the  geometric  forms  came  studies  of 
heads  and  of  hands.  In  fig.  88  we  see  how,  after 
a  fair  control  of  the  graver  had  been  attained,  there 
was  still  much  to  be  learned  in  detail  and  harmony 
before  the  artist  could  be  trusted  to  decorate  a 
temple. 

Statuary  also  needed  a  long  training.  The  work 
was  first  marked  out  in  profile  of  the  front  and 
sides,  and  then  cut  along  these  outlines,  as  in  the 
rock-crystal  figure  (fig.  89),  where  the  outlines  at 
right  angles  have  been  cut,  but  the  corners  are  yet 
unrounded.  In  the  block  for  the  head  of  a  lion  (fig. 
90)  the  various  planes  have  been  already  cut  for 
the  face,  before  attempting  any  rounding.  The  lime- 
stone head  (fig.  91)  shows  a  further  stage,  where 
the  general  rounding  is  done,  but  the  details  of  the 
lips,  ears,  eyes,  and  eyebrows  are  yet  left  in  the 
block.  All  of  these  stages  needed  incessant  practice, 
and  years  must  have  been  spent  in  training  in  the 
schools  before  final  work  was  undertaken. 

77 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 

Turning  now  to  stone-work  on  a  smaller  scale, 
the  hardest  materials  were  wrought  for  vases  in 
the  prehistoric  age.   In  the  first  civilisation,  basalt, 
syenite,  and  porphyry  were  in  use  as  well  as  the 
softer  stones,  alabaster  and  limestone.   The  later 
civilisation  brought  in  slate,  coloured  limestone, 
serpentine,  and  lastly  diorite,  which  continued  to  be 
the  favourite  stone  into  the  pyramid  age.  The  main 
differences  of  form  are  shown  in  fig.  87.  The  earlier 
type  of  vase  is  the  standing  form  F,  with  a  foot,  and 
no  piercing  for  suspension.   The  later  prehistoric 
age  brought  in  the  suspended  stone  as  well  as  pot- 
tery vases.   The  main  types  were  A,  B,  D,  E,  G, 
H,  and  lastly  C,  cut  out  of  coloured  marbles,  of 
syenite,  and  of  basalt.  All  of  these  vases  were  cut 
entirely  by  hand  without  any  turning,  or  even  any 
circular  grinding,  on  the  outside.   The  polish  lines 
cross  diagonally  on  the  curved  sides,  and  the  slight 
irregularities  of  form,  though  imperceptible  to  the 
eye,  can  be  felt  by  rotation  in  the  fingers.  The 
greatest  triumph  of  this  stone-work  is  the  vase  from 
Hierakonpolis  in  blackand  white  syenite,  of  the  type 
A,  E,  two  feet  across  and  sixteen  inches  high,  which 
is  highly  polished,  and  hollowed  out  so  thin  that  it 
can  be  lifted  by  one  finger,  though  if  solid  it  would 
weigh  four  hundred  pounds.   The  interior  of  these 

78 


STONE  VASES 


THE  STONE-WORKING 


vases  was  ground  out  with  stone  grinders  fed  with 
emery,  and  in  softer  stones  cut  out  by  crescent- 
shaped  flint  drills. 

The  historic  times  show  a  continual  decline  in  the 
quality  of  the  stone  used.  In  the  1st  dynasty  the 
hard  stones  decreased,  and  the  softer  slate  and 
alabaster  were  more  common.  In  the  pyramid  age 
only  diorite  continued  in  use  among  the  hard  ma- 
terials, and  that  but  rarely  compared  to  soft  stones  ; 
while  in  the  Xllth  and  XVIIIth  dynasties,  beyond 
an  occasional  vase  of  obsidian  or  serpentine,  nothing 
is  seen  but  the  soft  alabaster.  The  form  J  belongs 
to  the  Vlth  dynasty.  K  is  a  type  which  descends 
from  the  1st  dynasty,  but  in  this  form  wide  at  the 
top  belongs  to  the  Xllth,  after  which  it  disappears. 
L  and  M  are  of  the  XVIIIth  dynasty. 

Amulets  of  fine  stone  were  used  from  prehistoric 
days  onwards.  Of  the  early  ones,  the  bull's  head  is 
the  commonest,  made  of  carnelian,  haematite,  or 
glazed  quartz.  The  fly  is  made  of  slate,  lazuli,  and 
serpentine  in  prehistoric  times,  and  of  gold  in  his- 
toric jewellery.  The  hawk  is  found  of  glazed  quartz 
and  limestone,  the  serpent  of  lazuli  and  limestone  ; 
the  crocodile,  the  frog,  the  claw,  the  spear-head  are 
all  found  in  prehistoric  use.  In  the  Old  Kingdom, 
small  amulets  of  carnelian  or  ivory  were  usual ;  the 

79 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


forms  are  the  hand,  the  fist,  the  eye,  Hon,  jackal- 
head,  frog,  and  bee.  In  the  Middle  Kingdom  the 
more  usual  material  was  silver  or  electrum.  The 
New  Kingdom  used  amulets  but  little ;  the  great 
profusion  comes  from  the  mummies  of  the  Saite 
time,  when  dozens  may  be  found  on  one  body.  The 
great  variety  of  forms  and  materials  would  require 
a  volume  to  explain  them. 

Beads  were  used  from  prehistoric  times.  The  hard 
stones  were  cut  then — quartz,  amethyst,  agate,  car- 
nelian,  turquoise,  lazuli,  haematite,  serpentine,  as 
well  as  glazes  on  quartz  and  on  paste.  Glazed 
pottery  beads  became  the  more  usual  in  historic 
times;  glass  beads  were  made  from  the  XVIIIth 
dynasty  onward,  and  hardly  any  other  material  was 
used  in  Roman  times.  There  are  hundreds  of  va- 
rieties known,  and  an  accurate  knowledge  of  their 
dates  is  essential  in  excavating. 

Flint  was  worked  to  the  highest  perfection  in  the 
prehistoric  age,  and  continued  in  use  till  Roman 
times.  Strictly,  it  is  chert  rather  than  flint,  as  the 
beds  in  which  it  is  found  are  of  Eocene  limestone. 
But  in  general  appearance  and  nature  they  are 
closely  the  equivalent  of  the  chalk  with  flints  in 
England,  only  harder.  The  prehistoric  forms  are 
shown  in  fig.  92.   They  exceed  the  flint- work  of  all 

80 


FLINT-WORKING 


Knives  and  lances  of  the  best  prehistoric  work 


THE  STONE-WORKING 


other  countries  in  the  regularity  of  the  flaking,  the 
thinness  of  the  weapon,  and  the  minute  serration 
of  the  edges.  At  present  such  work  is  entirely  a 
lost  art,  and  we  cannot  imagine  the  methods  or  the 
skill  required  to  produce  such  results.  Besides  the 
weapons,  flint  armlets  were  made,  chipped  out  of 
a  solid  block,  yet  no  thicker  than  a  straw.  These 
were  ground  with  emery  finally  to  smooth  them  for 
wearing.  Flint  was  commonly  used  down  to  the 
XI  Ith  dynasty  for  knives,  but  all  the  dynastic  work- 
ing is  far  inferior  to  the  earlier.  In  the  XVI I  Ith 
dynasty,  and  later,  sickle  teeth  were  still  made  of 
flint ;  and  flakes  were  chipped  and  used  in  abund- 
ance at  some  centres  in  the  Roman  period. 

Before  leaving  the  stone-working  we  may  note 
the  accuracy  of  work,  as  this  is  better  seen  here  than 
in  any  other  subject.  The  highest  pitch  of  accuracy 
on  a  large  scale  was  reached  under  Khufu  in  the 
I  Vth  dynasty ;  his  pyramid  had  an  error  of  less  than 
'6  of  an  inch  on  its  side  of  9069  inches,  or  i  in 
15,000;  and  its  corners  were  square  to  \2'\  A 
change  of  temperature  during  a  day  would  make 
larger  errors  than  this  in  a  measuring-rod.  The 
accuracy  of  levelling,  and  of  finish  of  the  stones,  is 
on  a  par  with  this ;  joints  over  six  feet  long  are 
straight  to  a  hundredth  of  an  inch.   The  pyramid 

81  6 


ARTS  5c  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


of  Khafra  has  three  times  this  error,  varying  1*5 
inch  on  8475,  33^^  angle.  That  of  Menkaura 
is  worse,  being  on  an  average  3  inches  out  on 
4154,  and  50^''  of  angle.  At  Dahshur  the  errors 
are  37  on  7459  inches  base,  and  i*i  on  2065,  with 
angular  errors  of  4^  and  10'.  In  smaller  work,  a 
beautiful  example  is  the  granite  sarcophagus  of 
Senusert  II,  which  is  ground  flat  on  the  sides  with 
a  matt  face  like  ground  glass,  and  only  has  about 
a  two-hundredth  of  an  inch  error  of  flatness  and 
parallelism  of  the  sides.  The  later  ages,  so  far  as  we 
know,  have  left  nothing  that  can  be  compared  with 
the  accuracy  of  the  early  dynasties. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

JEWELLERY 

Native  gold  is,  in  all  countries,  one  of  the  earliest 
materials  for  manufactured  ornaments,  and  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  much  used  in  prehistoric  Egypt. 
Though  gold  is  not  now  sought  in  or  near  Egypt, 
we  must  remember  that  it  is  found  in  the  stream 
deposits  of  most  countries,  and  its  absence  from 
the  Mediterranean  lands  now  is  only  due  to  the 
ancient  workers  having  exhausted  the  supply.  The 
immediate  sources  of  the  metal  were  in  Nubia  and 
Asia  Minor.  The  Asiatic  gold  was  certainly  used 
in  the  first  dynasty,  as  it  is  marked  by  having  a 
variable  amount  of  silver  alloy,  about  a  sixth  ;  but 
looking  at  the  African  influence  on  Egypt  it  is 
probable  that  Nubia  was  the  first  source,  though 
whether  gold  {nub)  was  called  from  the  country 
{nub),  or  the  reverse,  is  uncertain. 

So  general  was  the  use  of  gold  for  necklaces, 

83 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


that  the  picture  of  a  collar  of  beads  became  the 


hieroglyph  for  gold.  Strings  of  minute 
gold  beads  were  worn  on  the  ankles  in 


prehistoric  times  (8000-5000  B.C.).  Larger  beads 
were  economically  made  by  beating  out  a  thin  tube, 
and  then  drawing  down  the  ends  over  a  core  of  lime- 
stone. A  thin  gold  finger  ring  has  been  found,  and 
a  flat  pendant  with  punched  dots.  But  most  of  the 
prehistoric  gold  is  seen  on  the  lips  of  stone  vases, 
overlaying  the  handles  of  vases,  and  forming  the 
wire  loops  for  carrying  them.  Similarly  it  was  used 
for  covering  the  handles  of  flint  knives  ;  a  sheet 
of  gold  was  fitted  over  the  flint,  embossed  with  fig- 
ures of  women,  animals,  twisted  snakes,  a  boat, 
etc.  But  the  use  of  thin  gold  leaf  which  adheres 
to  its  base,  is  not  found  until  the  pyramid  times. 
At  the  close  of  the  prehistoric  period  we  meet  with 
a  gold  cylinder  seal  engraved  with  signs.  When 
we  remember  that  it  is  very  rarely  that  an  unplun- 
dered  grave  is  discovered,  the  quantity  of  gold 
objects  found  show  that  the  metal  must  have  been 
generally  used  in  the  ages  when  commerce  devel- 
oped, before  writing  was  known. 

On  reaching  the  historic  times  we  obtain  a  good 
view  of  the  production  and  variety  of  jewellery, 
in  the  four  bracelets  of  the  Queen  of  Zer,  early  in 

84 


JEWELLERY 


the  first  dynasty,  5400  B.C.  These  bracelets  (fig.  93) 
show  how  each  separate  piece  was  made  to  fit  its 
own  place  in  a  complete  design,  and  that  the  later 
custom  of  merely  stringing  ready-made  beads  was 
not  then  followed. 

The  bracelet  of  hawks  has  the  gold  blocks  alter- 
nating with  turquoise.  The  hawks  on  the  gold 
pieces  are  all  equal,  but  the  sizes  of  the  blocks  vary 
in  the  height.  This  is  due  to  their  being  all  cast  in 
the  same  mould,  which  was  filled  to  varying  amounts. 
The  surfaces  were  hammered  and  chiselled,  but  not 
either  ground  or  filed.  The  order  of  the  hawks  was 
marked  by  numbering  them  with  cross  cuts  on  the 
base ;  these  cuts  are  directly  across  for  the  blocks  on 
one  half,  and  diagonally  across  for  the  other  half. 

The  bracelet  with  spiral  beads  has  the  gold  spiral 
formed  of  a  hammered  gold  wire,  thicker  at  the 
middle,  where  it  forms  the  barrel  of  the  beads.  This 
form  is  imitated  in  the  three  dark  lazuli  beads  down 
the  middle.  The  triple  gold  balls,  on  either  side 
of  those,  are  each  beaten  hollow  and  drawn  into  a 
thread-hole  left  at  each  end  ;  so  perfectly  wrought 
are  they  that  only  in  one  instance  does  the  slightest 
ruck  of  metal  remain.  To  join  the  three  balls  to- 
gether they  were  soldered,  but  without  leaving  the 
least  excess  or  difference  of  colour. 

85 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 

In  the  lowest  bracelet  the  hour-glass-shaped  beads 
are  of  gold,  with  one  of  amethyst  between  each 
pair.  The  gold  is  doubtless  cast,  being  solid.  None 
of  these  are  pierced,  but  they  were  secured  by  ty- 
ing round  a  groove  at  the  middle  of  each  bead. 
There  was  also  a  fourth  bracelet  with  a  ball  and 
loop  fastening  which  shows  the  skill  in  soldering. 
The  ball  is  beaten  hollow,  leaving  about  a  quarter 
of  it  open  ;  inside  it  a  hook  of  gold  wire  is  soldered 
in  without  leaving  the  smallest  trace  of  solder  vis- 
ible. The  band  round  the  wrist  was  formed  of  very 
thick  black  hair  plaited  with  gold  wire,  which  was 
hammered  to  exactly  the  same  thickness.  We  see 
from  these  bracelets  that  casting,  chiselling,  and 
soldering  were  perfectly  understood  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  monarchy. 

Of  about  the  1st  dynasty  there  are  also  copies 
of  spiral  shells  made  by  pressing  gold  foil,  perhaps 
over  shells.  These  were  threaded  as  a  necklace, 
imitating  the  shell  necklaces  of  earlier  ages. 

On  coming  to  the  Vlth  dynasty  (4000  B.C.)  we 
see  gold  chains  (fig.  94)  made  of  rings,  each  folded 
into  a  double  loop  and  put  through  the  next;  these 
may  be  called  loop-in-loop  chain.  Gold  seals  (fig. 
95)  arealso  found,  probably  made  by  foreigners  and 
worn  as  buttons,  like  many  similar  stone  buttons. 

86 


JEWELLERY 


93.  Bracelets  (1st  dynasty)  94.  Chain  (Vlth  dynasty) 

95.  Gold  seal  (Vlth  dynasty?)     96.  Gold  uraeus  (Xllth  dynasty) 


JEWELLERY 


The  Xllth  dynasty  has  left  us  some  magnificent 
groups  of  jewellery,  which  were  found  at  Dahshur. 
The  general  effect  of  this  work  is  graceful  and  sin- 
cere in  design  and  pure  in  colour.  There  is  no 
glitter  and  pomp  about  it,  but  it  has  the  highest 
beauty  of  careful  harmony  and  perfect  finish.  The 
tints  of  the  carnelian,  turquoise,  and  lazuli  which 
are  used  have  been  precisely  chosen  for  their  clear 
strength  of  colour,  while  the  Egyptian  system  of 
putting  a  line  of  gold  between  two  bright  colours 
prevents  any  dazzling  or  clashing.  The  charm  of 
this  jewellery  lies  in  the  calm,  fresh,  cool  colouring 
with  the  unhesitating  perfection  of  the  work,  which 
seems  to  ignore  all  difficulty  oi*  compromise. 

Three  pectoral  ornaments  made  in  successive 
reigns  are  each  formed  of  an  open-work  gold  plate, 
engraved  on  one  side  and  inlaid  withcolouredstones 
on  the  other.  The  engraved  sides  of  two  are  here 
given  (figs.  97, 98),  as  they  are  better  suited  for  illus- 
tration. The  earlier  pectoral,  bearing  the  names 
of  Senusert  II,  is  by  far  the  better  in  design.  The 
scheme  of  the  whole  is  grasped  at  once,  and  rests 
the  eye ;  there  is  repose  and  dignity  in  it.  Although 
clear  open  spaces  are  left,  the  parts  are  sufficiently 
connected  for  strength. 

The  second  pectoral,  of  Senusert  1 1 1,  is  too  com- 

87 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


plex  for  a  single  piece  of  jewellery  for  the  breast. 
The  heavy  mass  of  the  vulture  at  the  top  over- 
weights the  design  ;  the  head-dress  of  the  royal 
sphinxes  is  too  tall ;  and  the  combination  of  four 
captives  between  the  eight  legs  of  the  sphinxes,  or 
twenty-four  limbs  in  action,  is  far  too  complex  and 
distracting.  But  in  the  detail  we  must  admire  the 
expression  of  the  captives  ;  and  also  the  skill  with 
which  the  parts  are  united,  especially  where  the 
frail  length  of  the  tails  is  held  in  by  the  extra  lotus 
flowers. 

The  third  pectoral,  of  Amenemhat  III,  is  the 
least  successful  in  design.  It  is  made  too  large 
in  order  to  take  in  whole  figures  of  the  king  fight- 
ing ;  the  action  is  violent ;  and,  not  content  with 
four  figures,  the  outlines  are  lost  in  a  maze  of  em- 
blems which  fill  all  the  space  around,  so  that  no- 
thing is  clear  or  restful  to  the  eye.  The  earliest 
pectoral  was  evidently  designed  to  be  seen  at  a 
respectful  distance  on  royalty  in  movement.  To 
see  the  last  design  the  queen  would  need  to  be 
closely  stared  at,  in  order  to  make  out  the  cum- 
brous historical  document  on  her  breast. 

Two  crowns  of  gold  and  inlaid  stones  belonged 
also  to  the  princesses.  The  floret  crown  (fig.  lOo) 
is  perhaps  the  most  charmingly  graceful  head-dress 

88 


JEWEI>LKRY 


JEWELLERY 


ever  seen  ;  the  fine  wavy  threads  of  gold  harmon- 
ised with  the  hair,  and  the  delicate  little  flowers 
and  berries  seem  scattered  with  the  wild  grace  of 
Nature.  Each  floret  is  held  by  two  wires  crossing 
in  an  eye  behind  it,  and  each  pair  of  berries  has 
likewise  an  eye  in  which  the  wires  cross.  The  flor- 
ets are  not  stamped,  but  each  gold  socket  is  made 
by  hand  for  the  four  inserted  stones.  The  berries 
are  of  lazuli.  In  no  instance,  however  small,  was 
the  polishing  of  the  stone  done  in  its  cloison  ;  it 
was  always  finished  before  setting. 

The  upper  crown  (fig.  99)  is  less  unusual.  The 
motive  is  the  old  one  seen  on  the  head-dress  of 
Nofert  (fig.  24) ;  but  the  flowers  have  become  con- 
ventionalised. The  band  form  is  broken  by  the  up- 
right flowers  rising  from  each  rosette  ;  and  in  front 
there  was  an  aigrette  of  gold  with  flowers  formed 
of  coloured  stones. 

Turning  now  to  the  technical  details,  some  small 
gold  lions  were  cast,  but  not  all  from  a  single 
mould.  They  seem  to  have  been  modelled  in  wax, 
and  after  forming  the  mould  around  the  model  the 
wax  was  melted  out,  and  the  metal  run  in.  This 
method,  known  as  cire  perdue,  was  usual  in  later 
periods.  The  details  are  slightly  chiselled  upon  the 
gold. 

89 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Moulding  by  pressure  was  used  in  making  cowry 
beads  and  tie  beads,  which  were  impressed  in  stout 
foil,  aided  by  burnishing  on  to  the  model  so  as  to 
tool  the  detail. 

Soldering  was  done  most  delicately  for  the  side 
joints  of  the  hollow  cowry  beads  ;  it  was  also  used 
on  a  large  scale  for  the  dozens  of  delicate  ribs  of 
gold  which  were  fixed  to  the  back  plates  for  the 
cloison  work  of  the  pectorals.  To  attach  this  multi- 
tude of  minute  ribs  exactly  in  place  shows  most 
practised  work,  for  they  could  not  be  treated  separ- 
ately, being  so  close  together. 

Wire  was  made  in  large  quantity  for  the  floret 
crown.  This  wire  was  all  cut  in  strips,  and  pieces 
soldered  together  to  form  a  length.  The  same 
method  was  later  used  by  the  Jews  :  they  did  beat 
the  gold  into  thin  plates  and  cut  it  into  wires " 
(Ex.  xxxix.  3).  Drawn  wire  has  not  been  found  in 
any  ancient  work.  A  favourite  style  of  work  for 
figures  of  gods  and  sacred  animals  in  this  age  was 
a  mixture  of  wirework  and  sheet  metal ;  such  amu- 
lets and  sacred  animals  are  usually  half  an  inch 
high  :  the  example  of  the  sacred  cobra  here  shown 
(fig.  96)  is  by  far  the  finest  known. 

A  new  decoration  which  first  appears  in  this  age 
is  that  of  granulated  work  (fig.  10 1).    Here  it  is 

90 


JEWELLERY 


99,  loo.  Crowns  of  gold  inlaid  with  stones 

loi.  Granulated  gold  work  (all  Xllth  dynasty) 


JEWELLERY 


seen  on  a  case  in  a  zigzag  pattern,  and  on  two  pen- 
dants. Anotherexampleis  apattern  of  small  rhombs 
on  the  bezel  of  a  ring.  The  granules  are  5  x  5  in 
each  rhomb,  and  eight  rhombs  on  the  bezel,  or  forty 
granules  in  about  six-tenths  of  an  inch  ;  allowing 
for  spaces,  the  granules  must  be  an  eightieth  of 
an  inch  wide.  This  kind  of  work  is  found  also  later 
on  in  Egypt,  but  it  may  not  be  native  ;  in  Etruria  it 
was  the  national  type  of  jewellery  about  three  thou- 
sand years  after  this. 

The  mode  of  fastening  the  necklaces  was  by 
grooved  pieces.  One  of  the  gold  cowries,  or  lion's 
heads,  or  ties  which  formed  the  necklace,  was  made 
in  two  halves  with  dovetail  groove  and  ^^^^^ 
tongue  fitting  into  each  other  along  the  ^""^m^Sm^ 
whole  length  of  the  piece.  The  tongue  ran  up 
against  a  butt  end  when  the  halves  coincided. 

When  we  reach  the  XVIIIth  dynasty  we  see  in 
the  jewellery  of  Queen  Aah-hotep  (1570  B.C.)  much 
the  same  system  of  work  as  in  the  Xllth  dynasty. 
The  whole  style  is  less  substantial,  exact,  and  dig- 
nified ;  both  in  design  and  execution  it  is  at  all 
points  inferior  to  the  previous  work.  One  new  art 
appears,  the  plaiting  of  gold  wire  chains,  in  what  is 
now  commonly  called  Trichinopoly  pattern.  This 
method  was  continued  down  to  Roman  times. 

91 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


The  Aah-hotep-Aahmes  bracelet  (fig.  102)  is  a 
broad  band  of  metal,  with  the  figures  in  raised  gold 
on  a  dark  blue  ground.  At  first  it  looks  as  if  en- 
amelled, as  the  ground  runs  in  the  small  intervals 
between  the  gold  ;  but  it  is  really  a  surface  formed 
of  pieces  of  dark  lazuli,  cut  approximately  to  the 
forms  and  patched  around  with  a  dark  blue  paste  to 
match  it.  Two  other  bracelets  (or  perhaps  anklets) 
are  formed  of  minute  beads  of  stones  and  gold 
threaded  on  parallel  wires,  forming  a  band  about 
1^  inches  wide.  The  pattern  seems  an  imitation 
of  plaiting,  as  each  colour  forms  a  half  square  di- 
vided diagonally.  The  necklace  of  large  gold  flies 
is  heavy,  and  lacks  the  grace  of  earlier  times.  The 
axe  of  Aahmes  (fig.  104)  is  beautifully  inlaid  with 
gold,  bearing  the  king  s  names,  the  figures  of  the 
king  smiting  an  enemy,  and  the  gryphon-sphinx 
of  the  god  Mentu.  The  dagger  (fig.  103)  has  more 
of  the  Mykenaean  Greek  style  in  the  inlaying  of 
the  blade,  with  figures  of  a  lion  chasing  a  bull,  and 
four  grasshoppers.  The  four  heads  which  form 
the  pommel  are  unlike  any  other  Egyptian  design  ; 
but  the  squares  divided  diagonally  on  the  handle 
are  like  the  patterns  of  the  bead  anklets,  and  are 
probably  of  Egyptian  source. 

Of  the  XlXth  dynasty  there  is  the  Serapeum 

92 


JEWELLERY 


I02.  Bracelet  103.  Dagger  (both  parts)  104.  Axe 

(all  of  King  Aahmes,  XVIIIth  dynasty) 


JEWELLERY 


jewellery,  found  with  the  Apis  burials.  The  pec- 
toral of  Ramessu  II  (fig.  105)  is  of  good  design  ; 
the  wings  of  the  vulture  are  boldly  spread  in  wide 
curves,  and  the  king's  name  is  simple,  without  titles, 
and  well  placed.  The  border  band  is  heavy,  and 
the  colouring  is  rich.  It  is  a  creditable  work,  but 
entirely  missing  the  grace  and  sense  of  perfection 
of  the  best  work  from  Dahshur. 

The  gold  bracelets  with  name  of  Ramessu  II 
found  at  Bubastis,  are  of  inferior  work,  probably  for 
one  of  his  fifty-nine  daughters.  The  name  is  only 
impressed  on  stout  foil,  which  is  set  in  a  framework 
of  the  bracelet,  but  the  surfaces  are  ornamented 
with  gold  granular  work,  showing  that  such  was 
commonly  used.  There  is  a  pair  of  collar 
fasteners,  clumsily  made  by  filing  the  bent 
gold  and  working  thread-holes  in  the  cut ;  there 
are  thirty-six  thread-holes,  so  the  collar  must  have 
^^^^^^  been  a  very  wide  one.  The  fastening 
/^"^^^^^  by  two  halves  sliding  together  is  made 
by  two  wires  soldered  in  to  form  the  dovetail.  In 
this  same  group  are  thick  wire  bracelets  of 
silver,  with  a  coarse  hatched  pattern  on  the 
ends ;  also  many  plain  silver  earrings,  such 
as  were  worn  by  the  common  people  of  this  time. 

Slightly  later  is  the  jewellery  of  Sety  II  and 

93 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Tausert  from  the  Kings'  Tombs.  Here  are  also 
solid  wire  bangles,  but  of  gold.  And  square  wire 
bangles  have  the  thin  tail  of  each  end  of  the  bar 
twisted  round  the  stem  on  the  other  side,  a  fasten- 
ing also  commonly  found  on  finger-rings,  of  this 
age  and  rather  earlier.  Some  clumsy  little  open- 
work beads  are  made  by  rough  circles  of  gold  wire 
soldered  together;  a  wide  equatorial  circle  is  joined 
to  a  small  polar  circle  at  each  end  by  six  small 
circles  touching.  Flowers  are  made  by  stamping 
the  petals  out  of  foil ;  there  are  ten  petals  to  each, 
and  four  of  them  are  stamped  with  the  king's  name. 
Some  monstrous  earrings  overloaded  with  orna- 
ment belong  to  the  end  of  the  Ramessides  (fig.  io6). 

Base  gold  was  much  used  at  the  close  of  the 
XVIIIth  dynasty,  and  many  of  the  finger-rings  of 
that  age  almost  verge  into  copper.  But  stones 
were  used  for  inlay  work  until  the  later  Rames- 
sides, and  glass  or  paste  does  not  become  usual  till 
up  to  looo  B.C.  Enamel  fused  upon  metal  is  not 
known  until  Roman  times. 

I  n  the  V 1 1 1  th  century  b.  c.  gold  working  was  well 
maintained,  as  seen  (fig.  107)  in  the  statuette  made 
by  the  local  king  Pafaabast.  The  modelling  of  the 
limbs  is  exact,  the  pose  is  free,  and  it  shows  the 
maintenance  of  a  good  tradition.   About  a  century 

94 


jp:wellery 


105.  Pectoral  of  Ramessu  II 
106.  Earrings  of  Ramessu  XII        107.  Gold  statuette  (XXVth  dynasty) 


JEWELLERY 


later  there  is  fine  cloison  work  on  the  gold  birds  of 
the  Hawara  amulets,  as  minute  as  any  of  earlier 
times. 

A  free  use  of  gold- work  comes  in  with  the  wealth 
of  the  Ptolemaic  age,  especially  for  bracelets  and 
chains.  A  usual  type  of  bracelet,  in  gold  or  silver, 
was  with  busts  of  Serapis  and  Isis  on  the  two  ends 
of  a  strip,  which  were  turned  up  at  right  angles  to 
the  circle.  These  are  generally  of  coarse  work. 
Plain  bangles,  bracelets  with  the  two  tails  of  a  bar 
twisted  each  round  the  other,  coiled  wire  bracelets 
which  were  elastic,  and  hingeing  bracelets,  are  all 
found  in  use  at  this  age.  Much  Greek  influence  is 
seen  in  the  patterns,  both  now  and  in  the  Roman 
period.  The  bangle  bracelets  were  often  made 
hollow,  both  for  lightness  and  economy  of  metal. 
Cheaper  styles  were  of  thin  gold  foil  worked  over 
a  core  of  plaster ;  the  decoration  of  cross  lines  on 
such  shows  that  they  are  probably  Roman.  The 
chains  of  Ptolemaic  and  Roman  age  (fig.  109)  are 
simple,  but  of  pleasing  style. 

In  Coptic  times  bracelets  of  various  forms  were 
made,  mostly  of  silver  and  baser  metal ;  but  they  are 
all  plain  and  tasteless.  Large  earrings  were  made 
with  a  big  hoop  and  a  bunch  of  small  pendants,  or 
an  openwork  metal  bead.   Necklets  of  silver  were 

95 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


usual,  with  the  tails  of  the  strip  wound  round  each 
other,  so  as  to  slide  open  for  passing  over  the  head. 

Gold  was  also  used  largely  for  gilding  both  metals 
and  wood.  The  gold  leaf  was  often  about  a  5000th 
of  an  inch  thick,  weighing  one  grain  to  the  square 
inch.  Thus  a  pound  s  weight  of  gold  would  cover 
about  six  feet  square  ;  and  the  gilding  of  doors  and 
of  the  caps  of  obelisks  as  described  is  not  at  all  un- 
likely. 

Silver  was  known  to  the  Egyptians  later  than 
gold,  as  it  is  called  white  gold  "  ;  and  it  was  scarcer 
than  gold  in  the  early  ages.  Of  the  prehistoric  time 
there  is  a  cap  of  ajar,  and  a  small  spoon  with  twisted 
handle.  A  few  silver  amulets  are  known  in  the 
Xllth  dynasty.  In  the  XVIIIth  dynasty  silver 
became  commoner,  as  the  source  in  northern  Syria 
which  supplied  the  Hittites  became  accessible.  The 
silver  dishes  of  this  age  are  rather  thick,  and  not 
finely  beaten.  One  bowl,  probably  of  Ramesside 
date  from  Bubastis,  has  the  brim  turned  inward  like 
a  modern  anti-splash  basin  (fig.  115).  It  seems  to 
have  been  made  by  spinning  the  metal,  as  thin  ves- 
sels are  now  wrought. 

The  most  elaborate  style  of  silver  work  is  that  of 
the  bowls  from  Mendes  (fig.  108).  These  are  en- 
tirely made  by  hammer  work,  and  no  moulds  or 

96 


JEWELLERY 


io8.  Silver  bowls 


109.  Roman  gold  chain 


JEWELLERY 


matrices  were  used  for  the  forms.  But  the  finish 
of  the  surfaces  is  so  fine  that  no  trace  of  hammer 
or  polishing  is  left.  The  design  is  derived  from  the 
fluted  vases  and  bowls  of  the  XVI I  Ith  dynasty  ;  the 
fluting  was  made  deeper  and  stronger,  and  it  was 
suppressed  below,  as  it  interfered  with  the  using  of 
the  bowl,  while  round  the  sides  it  remained  as  deep 
bosses.  The  detail  was  all  put  in  by  the  graving 
tool,  the  sinking  round  the  central  rosette,  the  hol- 
lows in  the  petals,  and  the  outlines  of  the  petals. 
There  is  no  sign  of  punch-work.  The  number  of 
ribs  is,  curiously, indivisible,  being  i8,  26,28,  and  30; 
these  show  that  it  was  not  divided  either  by  tri- 
angles, hexagons,  or  repeated  halving.  Probably  a 
suitable  size  of  rib  was  designed,  and  then  repeated 
an  even  number  of  times  ;  and  the  divisions  not  be- 
ing truly  radial,  show  that  eye-design  was  followed 
rather  than  geometrical  scaling. 


7 


CHAPTER  IX 

METAL  WORK 

Here  we  shall  deal  with  the  useful  metals,  apart 
from  the  ornamental  work  of  jewellery  previously 
described.  Copper  was  worked  from  the  beginning 
of  the  prehistoric  civilisation.  In  one  of  the  earliest 
graves  a  little  copper  pin  was  found,  used  to  fasten 
over  the  shoulders  the  goat-skin,  which  was  worn 
before  the  weaving  of  linen.  Not  long  after,  a  small 
chisel  appears,  then  an  adze  and  harpoon,  then 
needles,  and  larger  sizes  of  tools  come  at  the  close 
of  the  prehistoric  age.  All  of  this  copper  was  shaped 
by  hammering.  Polished  stone  hammers  were  used, 
and  the  work  was  so  exquisitely  regular  that  a  po- 
lished surface  still  remains  on  an  adze,  which  shows 
no  trace  of  the  method  of  manufacture  ;  certainly  it 
was  not  ground.  The  mode  of  hammering  is  shown 
in  some  early  historical  sculptures  ;  a  stone  hammer 
was  held  in  the  palm  of  the  right  hand,  which  was 

98 


METAL  WORK 


swung  overhead,  and  brought  down  on  the  metal. 
How  such  work  could  be  done  without  hurting  the 
hand  by  concussion  is  not  clear  to  us.  It  is  strange 
that  down  to  Greek  times  the  Egyptians  never  used 
a  long  handle  to  a  hammer. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  kingdom,  copper  ewers 
and  basins  were  made ;  these  are  known  from  the 
sculpture  of  Narmer,  and  examples  are  found 
in  the  royal  tombs.  They  were  skilfully  ham- 
mered out,  with  cast  spouts  inserted.  The 
main  example  of  early  copper-work  is  the  life-size 
statue  of  King  Pepy,  and  the  smaller  figure  of  his 
son  (fig.  no).  The  trunk  and  limbs  are  of  ham- 
mered copper,  riveted  together ;  the  face,  hands, 
and  feet  are  cast  doubtless  by  cire  perdue.  The 
ease  and  truth  of  the  whole  figure  shows  that  there 
must  have  been  long  practice  in  the  artistic  working 
of  copper ;  yet  no  traces  of  such  figures  are  found 
earlier,  nor  for  over  a  thousand  years  later,  and 
we  may  thus  realise  how  scattered  are  the  points 
we  have,  in  the  view  of  the  art  as  a  whole. 

The  IXth  dynasty  has  left  a  coarse  example  of 
cast  copper  tooled  with  a  graver,  the  brazier  of 
Khety,  now  in  Paris.  Of  the  Xllth  dynasty  there 
is  not  much  copper  work,  except  for  tools.  The 
moulds  for  casting  tools  were  found  at  Kahun. 

99 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


They  were  open  moulds,  cut  out  of  a  thick  piece  of 
pottery,  and  lined  smooth  with  fine  clay  and  ash. 

Down  to  this  age  copper  was  used  with  only  small 
amounts  of  hardening  mixture  ;  after  this,  bronze  of 
copper  and  tin  came  into  general  use.  The  earlier 
copper  of  the  1st  dynasty  usually  contains  one  per 
cent,  of  bismuth,  and  later  than  that  one  or  two  per 
cent,  of  arsenic,  and  is  underpoled,''  in  modern 
terms,  that  is,  a  good  deal  of  unreduced  oxide  of 
copper  is  left  in  the  metal.  Both  of  these  mixtures 
harden  it ;  and  by  strong  hammering  it  is  made  still 
harder.  Copper  so  treated  at  present  can  be  made 
as  hard  as  mild  steel.  Thus  the  metal  was  fit  for  the 
wood-cutting  tools,  and  for  the  chisels  used  for  cut- 
ting limestone.  The  harder  stones  were  worked 
with  emery.^ 

Bronze  has  been  found  in  one  case  as  far  back  as 
the  Ilird  dynasty,  but  this  was  only  a  chance  alloy. 
It  began  to  be  regularly  used  in  the  XVIIIth  dy- 
nasty, 1600  B.C.  ;  and  the  source  of  the  tin  for  it  is 
a  point  of  interest  in  early  trade.  Cornwall  and  the 
Malay  States  are  the  only  modern  sources  of  im- 

1  The  earlier  source  of  copper  was  Sinai,  where  there  yet  remain 
thousands  of  tons  of  copper  slag  in  the  Wady  Nasb.  In  the  XVIIIth 
dynasty  and  onwards,  Cyprus— the  Kupros  island  of  copper — came 
into  regular  connection  with  Egypt,  and  probably  supplied  most  of 
the  metal. 

100 


METAL  STATUARY 


no.  Merenra  (Vlth  dynasty)       111,112.  Takushet  (XXVth  dynasty) 


METAL  VASES 


113.  Bronze  pouring  vase  114.  Bronze  fluted  vase 

115.  Silver  anti-splash  bowl 


METAL  WORK 


portance  ;  but  probably  other  surface  sources  have 
been  exhausted,  as  in  the  case  of  gold  deposits. 
Now  bronze  is  found  in  Central  Europe  about  as 
early  as  in  Egypt,  and  it  is  unlikely  to  have  been 
imported  there  from  Egypt,  or  to  have  been  traded 
there  as  soon  as  it  would  be  to  a  great  state  like 
Egypt.  The  presumption  would  be  that  it  origi- 
nated about  Central  Europe.  As  adistrict  in  Saxony 
is  known  as  Zinnwald,  and  crystallised  oxide  of  tin 
is  still  brought  from  there  and  from  Bohemia,  it  is 
very  likely  that  there  may  have  been  stream  tin  de- 
posits capable  of  supplying  Europe  and  Egypt. 

In  the  XVIIIth  dynasty  bronze  vessels  were 
wrought  very  skilfully  by  hammer- work.  The  flask 
(fig.  1 13)  for  washing  the  sandals  of  Amen,  inscribed 
with  the  owner's  name  and  titles,  is  9  inches  high 
and  has  a  body  4  inches  across ;  it  has  been  ham- 
mered on  anvils  introduced  through  the  neck,  which 
is  only  I  ^  inches  wide.  By  the  weight  of  it  (7  ounces) 
it  cannot  average  more  than  ^th  inch  in  thickness. 
A  general  mode  of  stiffening  the  thin  metal  vases 
was  by  fluting  the  surface  (fig.  1 14),  a  method  also 
used  in  prehistoric  Greece. 

The  casting  of  bronze  was  generally  done  by 
the  cire  perdue  method.  A  core  of  blackened  sand 
is  usually  found  in  the  casting.  This  was  probably 

lOI 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


sand  mixed  with  a  litde  organic  matter ;  as  it  is 
never  reddened,  probably  no  clay  or  mud  was  used. 
Over  the  core  the  wax  was  modelled,  and  the  traces 
of  the  modelling  tool  can  be  seen  clearly  on  un- 
finished bronzes.  On  an  ibis  there  was  a  rolled 
pellet  of  wax  put  between  the  beak  and  the  breast, 
so  as  to  induce  the  flow  of  the  metal  along  the 
beak ;  this  would  be  easily  cut  away  in  finishing. 
An  example  of  a  kneeling  figure  shows  the  legs 
completely  modelled beforeputting  thepleated  dress 
over  them,  and  then  the  whole  was  cast.  How  the 
core  was  fixed  within  the  outer  mould  is  a  difficult 
question.  On  the  many  unfinished  bronzes  that  I 
have  examined  I  have  never  found  a  definite  connec- 
tion above  the  base,  but  only  casual  blowholes.  Yet 
the  metal  was  often  run  as  thin  as  -^th  inch,  so  that 
a  shift  of  the  core  by  as  little  as  y^o^t'^  '^^^^  would 
throw  the  casting  out,  and  make  a  flaw.  How 
the  core  was  retained  so  firmly  in  position  against 
the  flotation  of  the  melted  metal  is  not  clear.  No 
metal  bars  were  put  through  the  core  to  steady  it, 
as  Cellini  did  in  his  large  castings.  A  system  was 
used  of  stiffening  bronze-work  by  casting  it  over 
iron  rods  ;  by  the  free  use  of  iron,  this  must  be  of 
the  Greek  period.  Solid  bronze  castings  come  into 
use  in  Ptolemaic  and  Roman  work. 

I02 


METAL  WORK 


A  favourite  decoration  of  copper-work  in  later 
times,  from  about  700  B.C.,  was  by  inlaying  lines 
of  gold  or  silver  in  it.  This  is  a  common  system 
in  India  now,  where  it  is  known  as  Keft  work  ;  the 
name  suggests  that  it  was  introduced  from  Egypt, 
where  Keft  was  the  starting-point  of  the  Indian 
trade  route  from  the  Nile.  One  of  the  finest  ex- 
amples of  this  is  the  statue  in  the  Athens  Museum 
(figs.  Ill,  112);  another  is  the  hawk-head  and  collar 
with  the  name  of  Aahmes  II  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum. The  lines  were  first  chiselled  or  punched 
in  the  copper,  and  then  the  gold  was  beaten  into  the 
grooves. 

No  instance  of  using  soft  solder  to  copper  or 
bronze  is  known  till  Roman  times. 

Lead  is  found  in  the  prehistoric  times  in  the 
form  of  small  figures  and  little  objects  ;  it  was  pro- 
bably brought  from  Syria.  It  next  appears  as  a 
rather  common  metal  in  the  XVI I  Ith  dynasty,  when 
net-sinkers  were  generally  made  by  bending  a  piece 
of  sheet  lead  round  the  edge  lines  of  the  net,  much 
as  at  the  present  day.  In  the  fillingof  bronze  weights 
it  is  found  both  in  the  XVI I  Ith  and  XXVIth  dy- 
nasties. And  an  alloy  of  copper  and  lead — now 
known  as  pot-metal — was  commonly  used  for  stat- 
uettes in  Greek  and  Roman  times.  In  Coptic  times 

103 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


pewter  bowls  and  ladles  were  made  ;  the  bowls  are 
apparently  formed  by  spinning. 

Tin  is  first  known  in  a  piece  of  bronze  rod  from 
Medum,  of  the  Ilird  dynasty.  But  this  was  only 
a  freak,  and  bronze  did  not  come  into  use  till  about 
1600  B.C.,  probably  introduced  from  Hungary,  as 
we  have  noticed.  At  about  1400  B.C.  there  is  a 
finger-ring  of  pure  tin,  known  by  its  crackling  when 
bent.  The  metal  is,  however,  scarcely  known  sepa- 
rate otherwise. 

Antimony  occurs  in  the  form  of  beads  about  800 
B.C. ;  as  it  was  familiar  to  the  Assyrians  also,  it  may 
have  been  traded  from  them. 

Iron  working  is  an  important  subject  in  the  his- 
tory of  culture,  and  the  appearances  of  this  metal 
in  Egypt  are  curiously  sporadic.  The  notion,  often 
suggested,  that  it  might  rust  away  and  disappear, 
is  absurd  ;  nothing  is  more  permanent  and  notice- 
able than  iron  rust.  The  early  examples  are  :  (i) 
a  piece  of  sheet  iron  said  to  be  found  between  the 
stones  of  Khufu  s  pyramid;  (2)  a  lump  of  iron  found 
wrapped  up  with  copper  axes  of  the  Vlth  dynasty 
form,  and  placed  at  the  corresponding  level  in  the 
foundations  of  the  Abydos  temples  ;  this  is  absol- 
utely certain  and  not  open  to  any  doubt ;  (3)  iron 
ferules  said  to  be  found  in  the  masonry  of  a  pyramid 

104 


METAL  WORK 


at  Dahshur ;  (4)  an  iron  falchion  said  to  be  found 
beneath  the  base  of  a  statue  of  Ramessu  II.  The 
certainty  about  the  second  example — which  was 
found  by  trained  workmen,  levelled  at  the  time, 
and  is  stuck  together  with  tools  of  known  date — 
prevents  our  needing  to  hesitate  about  accepting 
the  less  precise  authentication  of  theother  examples. 

Yet  iron  continued  so  scarce  until  about  800  B.C. 
that  we  find  then  a  thin  iron  knife  with  a  handle 
of  bronze  cast  on  it  as  being  the  cheaper  metal. 
The  explanation  of  this  intermittent  use  of  iron  lies 
in  an  observation  of  Professor  Ridgeway  s,  that  all 
the  sites  of  native  iron  in  the  world  are  where  car- 
boniferous strata  and  ironstone  have  been  heated 
by  eruptions  of  basalt,  and  thus  produced  iron  by 
natural  reduction  of  the  ore.  Exactly  this  combina- 
tion is  found  in  Sinai.  Carboniferous  sandstone  has 
beds  of  pure  black  haematite  with  it,  and  a  thick 
flow  of  basalt  has  extended  over  the  country.  Prob- 
ably, therefore,  occasional  pockets  of  native  iron 
were  found  there  by  the  Egyptians  at  long  intervals, 
and  thus  the  use  of  it  was  intermittent. 

The  artificial  production  of  iron  seems  to  have 
been  known  earliest  in  Assyria ;  it  probably  arose 
among  the  Chalybes  at  the  head  of  the  Euphrates, 
from  whom  the  Greek  name  of  the  metal  was  de- 

los 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


rived.  Large  quantities  of  iron  and  steel  tools  have 
been  found  in  the  Assyrian  ruins,  but  were  neglected 
by  excavators.  A  set  of  armourer's  tools  was  found 
at  Thebes  with  a  copper  helmet  of  Assyrian  form, 
and  therefore  probably  left  by  the  expedition  under 
Asshur-bani-pal  in  666  B.C.  These  tools  comprise 
flat  chisels,  mortise  chisels,  saws,  a  punch,  a  rasp,  a 
file,  a  twist  scoop,  and  two  centre-bits.  The  forms 
of  most  of  these  tools  have  already  attained  to  the 
modern  types ;  but  the  file  is  only  slight  and  irre- 
gular, and  the  centre-bits  are  only  fit  for  hard  wood. 
The  edges  of  these  tools  are  of  steel,  probably  pro- 
duced by  case-hardening  the  iron. 

We  next  find  iron  tools  brought  in  by  the  Greeks 
at  Naukratis.  Chisels,  flat  and  mortise,  with  both 
tang  and  socket  handles,  borers  and  axe-heads, 
were  all  familiar  to  the  Greek  before  the  Egyptian 
adopted  them.  One  instance  of  an  iron  adze  of 
Egyptian  type  is  known,  but  otherwise  it  is  not 
till  Coptic  times  that  we  find  a  free  use  of  iron  for 
knives,  chisels,  flesh-hooks,  hoes,  pruning  hooks, 
and  other  tools,  probably  due  to  Roman  influence. 
To  go  further  in  this  subject  would  lead  into  the 
general  history  of  tools,  which  is  beyond  our  scope 
here. 


CHAPTER  X 


GLAZED  WARE 

The  use  of  glazing  begins  far  back  in  the  prehistoric 
age,  some  thousands  of  years  before  any  examples 
of  glass  are  known.  Glaze  is  found  on  a  quartz  base 
as  early  as  on  a  pottery  base  ;  and  it  seems  prob- 
able that  it  was  invented  from  finding  quartz  pebbles 
fluxed  by  wood  ashes  in  a  hot  fire.  Hence  glazing 
on  quartz  was  the  starting-point,  and  glazing  on 
artificial  wares  was  a  later  stage.  Amulets  of  quartz 
rock  are  found  covered  with  a  coat  of  blue-green 
glaze ;  a  model  boat  was  made  of  quartz  rock  in 
sections,  glazed  over,  and  united  by  gold  bands ; 
and  a  large  sphinx  of  quartz,  about  eighteen  inches 
long,  has  evidently  been  glazed.  The  fusion  of 
glaze  on  the  stone  partly  dissolves  the  surface  ;  and 
even  after  the  glaze  has  been  lost  its  effect  can  be 
seen  by  the  surface  having  the  appearance  of  water- 
worn  marble  or  sugar  candy.   This  system  of  glaz- 

107 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


ing  on  quartz  was  continued  in  historic  times  ;  clear 
crystal  beads  flashed  over  with  a  rich  blue  glaze 
are  found  in  the  Xllth  dynasty  ;  and  large  blocks 
were  glazed  in  the  XVIIIth  dynasty. 

The  use  of  a  pottery  ware  for  covering  with  glaze 
begins  with  beads  of  blue  and  green  in  the  prehis- 
toric necklaces.  The  pottery  base  for  glazing  is 
never  a  clay  in  Egypt,  but  always  a  porous  body 
of  finely-ground  silica,  either  sand  or  quartz  rock. 
This  was  slightly  bound  together,  but  the  whole 
strength  of  the  object  was  in  the  soaking  of  glaze 
on  the  outer  surface. 

An  astonishing  development  of  glazed  ware  came 
at  the  beginning  of  the  monarchy.  A  piece  of  a 
vase  (fig.  1 1 6)  with  the  name  of  Mena,  the  first 
king  of  Egypt,  is  of  green  glazed  pottery,  and  it  is 
surprising  to  find  the  royal  name  inlaid  in  a  second 
coloured  glaze,  which  has  probably  been  violet, 
though  now  decomposed.  Thus  two-colour  glazing 
in  designs  was  used  as  early  as  5500  B.C.  And  at 
this  date  glazing  was  not  only  a  fine  art,  it  was 
used  on  a  large  scale  for  the  lining  of  rooms.  Tiles 
have  been  found  about  a  foot  long,  stoutly  made, 
with  dovetails  on  the  back,  and  holes  through  them 
edgeways  in  order  to  tie  them  back  to  the  wall  with 
copper  wire.   They  are  glazed  all  over  with  hard 

108 


GLAZES 


116.  Two-colour  glaze  of  Mena  ii8.  Head  of  Isis 

117.  Lotus  border  (XXth  dynasty)  119.  Royal  fan-bearer 


GLAZED  WARE 


blue-green  glaze.  The  front  is  ribbed  in  imitation 
of  reedwork,  and  they  probably  were  copied  from 
reed  mats  used  to  line  the  walls.  Part  of  a  tile  has 
large  hieroglyphs  inlaid  in  colour,  showing  that  de- 
corative inscriptions  were  set  up.  Rather  later,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Ilird  dynasty,  there  is  the 
doorway  of  glazed  tiles  of  King  Zeser,  with  his 
name  and  titles  in  various  colours  ;  this  doorway, 
now  in  Berlin,  belonged  to  a  room  in  the  Step  pyra- 
mid entirely  lined  with  glazed  tile. 

Smaller  objects  were  also  made  in  glaze.  A 
tablet  of  the  first  dynasty  bears  a  relief  of  the  figure 
and  titles  of  an  aboriginal  chief,  apparently  made 
to  be  left  as  a  memorial  of  his  visit  to  temples — a 
sort  of  visiting  card, — as  it  was  found  in  the  temple 
of  Abydos.  Figures  of  women  and  animals  were 
found  with  it,  and  glazed  toggles  to  be  used  in 
place  of  buttons  on  garments.  Very  little  glazing 
has  been  preserved  to  us  from  the  pyramid  age  ; 
there  are  small  tablets  with  the  name  of  King  Pepy 
(4100  B.C.)  in  relief,  but  roughly  done. 

The  general  colour  of  the  early  glaze  is  greenish- 
blue  or  blue-green,  never  distinctly  of  either  colour. 
Such  appears  from  the  prehistoric  age  to  the  pyra- 
mid time.  The  glaze  is  full,  and  was  not  heated 
long  enough  to  soak  into  the  body.    It  often  has 

109 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


pit-holes  in  it,  and  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
very  fluid.  In  the  Vlth  dynasty  a  second  colour 
appears,  a  dark  indigo  blue  ;  this  is  on  a  scarab  of 
Merenra,  and  on  small  toilet  vases  of  the  period. 
Some  earlier  scarabs  are  probably  of  the  age  of 
the  IVth,  and  even  of  the  Ilird  dynasty;  these 
have  a  clear  brilliant  blue  glaze,  thin  and  well 
fused. 

In  the  Xllth  dynasty  the  glaze  is  thin  and  hard. 
On  ring-stands  and  vases  it  is  often  dry  and  of  a 
greyish  green.  A  rich  clear  blue  glaze  was  also 
used,  and  is  best  seen  on  scarabs  and  on  the  favour- 
ite figures  of  hippopotami,  which  were  only  made 
in  this  period.  The  designs  and  inscriptions  in  the 
glaze  were  of  a  fine  black,  apparently  coloured  with 
manganese. 

The  XVIIIth  dynasty  was  the  great  age  of  the 
development  of  glazing.  It  began  with  so  close  a 
continuance  of  the  style  of  the  Xllth  dynasty  that 
it  is  hard  to  discriminate  one  from  the  other.  Down 
to  the  time  of  Tahutmes  1 1 1  the  small  pieces  and 
beads  with  blue  colour  are  as  those  of  the  previous 
age  ;  but  the  large  bowls  are  of  a  brighter  blue  and 
rather  a  wetter  glaze.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
dynasty  there  is  also  a  dark  green  glaze  used  upon 
schist,  mostly  seen  on  the  elaborately  carved  kohl 

no 


GLAZED  WARE 


pots.  U  nder  Amenhotep  1 1  was  made  the  largest 
piece  of  glazing  that  is  known  from  Egypt,  now  in 
South  Kensington  Museum.  This  was  a  great  uas 
sceptre  made  as  an  offering,  the  stem  of  which  is 
five  feet  long.  This  length  was  built  up  of  separate 
sections  of  body  ware,  made  each  about  nine  inches 
long,  so  as  to  have  sufficient  firmness ;  after  they 
were  each  baked  they  were  then  united  with  a  slip 
paste  of  the  same  ware,  and  finally  fired  with  a 
single  flow  of  glaze  over  the  whole  five-feet  length. 
The  head  was  made  separately.  The  special  diffi- 
culty of  firing  such  large  pieces  is  to  maintain  a 
uniform  heat  over  the  whole,  and  to  avoid  any 
reducing  flame  from  the  fuel,  which  would  discolour 
the  glaze,  and  produce  lustre  ware.  The  heating 
must  also  be  brief,  so  as  to  avoid  the  glaze  running 
down,  or  soaking  into  the  porous  body  and  leaving 
it  dry. 

Under  Amenhotep  III  and  IV  the  art  of  glaz- 
ing reached  its  most  brilliant  development,  both  in 
its  colours  and  in  the  variety  of  its  applications. 
Beside  the  previously  used  shades  of  blue  and 
green  we  meet  with  purple-blue,  violet,  a  brilliant 
apple-green,  bright  chrome-yellow,  lemon-yellow, 
crimson-red,  brown-red,  and  milk-white.  Besides 
the  previous  uses  of  glaze  for  bowls  and  vases,  beads 

III 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


and  scarabs,  we  now  meet  with  a  great  variety  of 
pendants  and  ornaments  for  necklaces,  more  than 
two  hundred  and  fifty  forms  of  which  are  known 
from  the  objects  and  the  moulds  ;  also  flat  emblems 
and  name  plaques,  with  stitch  holes  or  loops  at  the 
edge,  for  stitching  on  to  the  muslin  dresses  then 
worn.  The  private  person  thus  wore  the  kings 
name  on  his  arm,  and  the  king  wore  the  titles  of 
the  sun-god  to  whom  he  was  devoted.  The  effect  of 
the  white  muslin  dresses  with  dazzling  blue  plaques 
and  natural  coloured  daisies  and  other  flowers  scat- 
tered over  them,  must  have  been  very  striking. 
Another  use  of  glaze  was  for  architectural  inlaying 
(fig.  117).  The  capitals  of  great  columns  were  in- 
laid all  over  with  stripes  of  red  and  blue  along  the 
palm  leaf  design,  separated  into  small  squares  by 
gilt  bands  between.  The  whole  capital  was  thus 
copied  on  a  vast  scale  from  cloison  jewellery.  An- 
other use  of  glaze  was  for  inlaying  coloured  hiero- 
glyphs in  the  white  limestone  walls.  This  system 
was  carried  on  in  a  simpler  way  into  the  next 
dynasty,  where  a  great  quantity  of  cartouches  of 
Sety  1 1  are  known  ;  and  in  the  walls  of  the  temple 
of  Luqsor  are  rows  of  holes  of  corresponding  size, 
from  which  they  have  probably  been  taken.  A 
favourite  form  of  glazed  ware  in  the  XVIIIth  and  . 

112 


GLAZED  WARE 


XlXth  dynasties  is  that  of  the  graceful  lotus  flower 
cup. 

In  the  XlXth  dynasty  there  is  much  less  variety 
of  glazing ;  but  we  meet  with  the  rise  of  a  new  in- 
dustry which  was  to  eclipse  all  the  others  in  its  out- 
put. Sety  I  had  many  glazed  figures  of  ushabtis  of 
blue  colour  inscribed  in  black,  or  of  glazed  steatite, 
in  his  tomb.  Under  Ramessu  1 1  they  became  usual 
for  private  persons,  and  for  a  thousand  years  later 
they  were  made  in  enormous  numbers,  usually  four 
hundred  being  buried  in  any  wealthy  tomb.  The 
Ramesside  ushabtis  are  usually  green  with  black  in- 
scriptions, rarely  white  with  purple.  In  the  XX  1st 
dynasty  they  are  of  very  intense  blue  with  purple- 
black  inscriptions,  and  very  roughly  made,  deterior- 
ating throughout  the  dynasty.  In  the  XXI I nd  and 
XXIIIrd  dynasties  they  are  small,  and  usually 
green  and  black.  In  the  XXVth  they  are  mere  red 
pottery  dipped  in  blue  wash,  or  little  slips  of  mud 
were  substituted.  The  XXVIth  dynasty  started 
a  different  class  of  very  large  figures,  up  to  ten 
inches  high,  beautifully  modelled,  with  incised  in- 
scriptions, back  pillar,  and  beard,  always  of  green 
glaze ;  and  these  deteriorated  to  Ptolemaic  times, 
excepting  that  there  are  some  splendid  blue  ones 
of  Nectanebo,  and  smaller  ones  of  bright  colour 

113  8 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


with  ink  inscriptions  of  private  persons  of  his 
time. 

About  the  XXV I  th  dynasty,  glazed  figures  of  the 
gods  were  made  for  popular  use,  and  by  about  300 
B.C.  they  appear  in  vast  numbers,  very  roughly 
moulded.  Some  of  the  earlier  pieces  are  very  beauti- 
fully modelled,  and  glazed  so  exactly  that  the  hol- 
lows are  not  at  all  filled  up,  A  head  of  I  sis  (fig.  1 1 8), 
and  a  half-length  figure  of  a  fan-bearer  (fig.  119) 
are  perhaps  the  finest  pieces  of  such  work.  The 
latter  figure  is  remarkable  for  the  vigour  of  the 
muscles  and  the  overbearing  official  dignity  of  the 
expression. 

Great  numbers  of  amulets  were  also  made  to  be 
buried  with  the  mummies  or  worn  by  the  living. 
The  earlier  examples  are  fairly  modelled,  of  apple- 
green  tint ;  in  Persian  times  they  are  sharp  and  dry 
in  form  and  of  an  olive-grey  colour,  but  they  be- 
came very  roughly  and  coarsely  moulded  in  Ptole- 
maic times.  There  are  some  interesting  modelled 
heads  of  this  age,  covered  with  blue  or  green  glaze, 
such  as  a  Ptolemaic  queen,  and  a  woman  wearing  a 
face  veil.  Vases  of  Greek  and  Roman  styles  were 
also  common.  A  delicate  thin  ware  with  Assyrian- 
esque  figures,  in  white  on  a  slightly  sunk  blue 
ground,  was  made  in  the  Persian  time  and  continued 

114 


GLAZED  WARE 


into  the  Ptolemaic  age.  Large  blocks  for  legs  of 
furniture,  and  stands,  were  also  made  now.  The 
characteristic  colours  are  of  a  dark  Prussian  blue 
bordering  on  violet,  and  an  apple-green. 

In  the  Roman  age  there  is  an  entirely  new  style. 
The  body  of  the  vase  is  of  a  purple-black  colour, 
with  a  wreath  of  bright  green  leaves  around  it 
Such  continued  almost  to  Coptic  times.  The  bulk 
of  the  Roman  glaze  is  of  coarse  forms,  and  bright 
Prussian  blue  in  tint.  The  vases  have  animals  in 
relief,  apparently  under  Persian  influence.  The  flat 
trays  with  straight  sides  are  copies  of  the  silver 
dishes  of  the  time.  The  old  style  of  glazing  con- 
tinued down  to  Arab  times ;  a  steatite  amulet,  in 
the  cutting,  and  colour  of  the  glaze,  might  well  have 
been  of  the  Shishak  age,  but  for  the  Arabic  inscrip- 
tion upon  it.  And  at  the  present  day  some  credit- 
able imitations  of  ancient  glazing  are  made  for 
fraudulent  trade  at  Thebes. 

Turning  to  the  more  technical  matters,  the  body 
of  the  ware  is  always  a  porous,  friable,  siliceous 
paste ;  in  some  cases  so  soft  that  it  can  be  rubbed 
away  from  the  broken  surfaces  by  the  finger.  The 
unglazed  beads  and  figures  occasionally  found  can 
hardly  be  handled  without  breaking.  This  paste 
was  moulded  roughly  into  form,  and  when  dry  it 

115 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


was  graved  with  a  point  to  give  the  detail.  If  it 
broke  in  the  fingers  a  good  figure  would  be  stuck 
together  again  with  a  scrap  of  the  paste  before  glaz- 
ing. Large  objects  were  made  in  sections,  dried  and 
baked,  and  then  joined  up  with  some  of  the  same 
paste,  and  re-baked  before  covering  with  glaze.  In 
the  XXV I  th  dynasty  there  is  a  beautiful  hard  stone- 
ware, apparently  made  by  mixing  some  glaze  with 
the  body,  enough  to  fuse  it  together  into  a  solid  mass 
throughout.  The  surface  of  these  works  is  always 
very  fine  and  smooth,  without  any  face  glaze,  but 
only  the  compact  polished  body.  The  usual  colour 
is  apple-green,  but  violet  is  sometimes  found  in  the 
early  examples  of  the  XVIIIth  dynasty. 

The  colours  were  rarely  anything  beyond  shades 
of  green  and  blue.  These  were  produced  by  com- 
pounds of  copper ;  the  blue  is  especially  free  from 
iron,  which  even  in  traces  produces  a  green  tint. 
The  blue  if  exposed  to  damp  fades  white ;  the 
green  changes  to  brown,  owing  to  the  decomposi- 
tion of  green  silicate  of  iron  and  the  production  of 
brown  oxide  of  iron.  This  decomposition  may  go 
on  beneath  an  unbroken  polished  face  of  glaze, 
changing  the  glaze  to  brown.  The  shades  of  blue 
and  green  were  all  experimentally  produced  in  mod- 
ern times  by  Dr  Russell,  F.R.S.,  who  succeeded 

ii6 


GLAZED  WARE 


in  exactly  copying  the  purple  blue,  full  blue,  light 
blue  and  French  blue,  and  the  green-blues  and  full 
greens  in  more  than  a  hundred  tints.  The  method 
was  indicated  by  the  half-baked  pans  of  colour 
found  at  Tell-el- Amarna.  Quartz  rock  pebbles  had 
been  collected,  and  served  for  the  floor  of  the  glaz- 
ing  furnaces,  x^fter  many  heatings  which  cracked 
them  they  were  pounded  into  fine  chips.  These 
were  mixed  with  lime  and  potash  and  some  carbon- 
ate of  copper.  The  mixture  was  roasted  in  pans, 
and  the  exact  shade  depended  on  the  degree  of 
roasting.  The  mass  was  half  fused  and  became 
pasty  ;  it  was  then  kneaded  and  toasted  gradually, 
sampling  the  colour  until  the  exact  tint  was  reach- 
ed. A  porous  mass  of  frit  of  uniform  colour  re- 
sults. This  was  then  ground  up  in  water,  and  made 
into  a  blue  or  green  paint,  which  was  either  used 
with  a  flux  to  glaze  objects  in  a  furnace,  or  was 
used  with  gum  or  white  of  egg  as  a  wet  paint  for 
frescoes. 

The  ovens  were  small,  about  two  or  three  feet 
across ;  cylindrical  pots  were  set  upside  down  and 
a  fire  lighted  between  them,  and  the  pans  of  colour 
rested  on  the  bottom  edges  of  the  pots.  In  Roman 
times  the  glazing  furnaces  were  about  eight  feet 
square  and  deep,  with  an  open  arch  to  windward 

117 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


half  way  up.  The  vases  and  dishes  were  stacked 
in  the  furnace  upon  cylinder  pots,  and  the  succes- 
sive dishes  in  the  piles  were  kept  apart  by  cones 
of  pottery  nearly  an  inch  high.  The  failure  of  a 
furnace-load  has  revealed  the  system  ;  by  too  long 
heating  the  glaze  soaked  through  the  porous  body, 
and  it  all  settled  down  and  partly  fell  to  pieces. 

The  other  colours  used  were  :  for  the  red  a  body 
mixed  with  haematite  and  covered  with  a  trans- 
parent glaze  ;  bright  yellow,  the  composition  of 
which  is  unknown  ;  violet  in  various  depths,  from 
a  faint  tinge  on  the  white  lotus  petals  to  a  deep 
strong  colour,  probably  made  by  copper  blue  and 
one  of  the  purples  ;  purple  in  various  strengths  from 
a  rich  bright  tint  upon  white  to  a  black  purple  for 
designs  upon  blue,  all  produced  by  manganese  ; 
occasionally  purple-blue  made  with  cobalt ;  dead 
white,  which  was  doubtless  produced  by  tin  as  at 
present. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  glazing  we  may 
notice  the  system  of  moulding  pendants  and  figures 
in  red  pottery  moulds,  of  all  sizes  from  a  quarter 
of  an  inch  to  three  or  four  inches  across.  A  great 
variety  of  these  is  found  at  Tell-el-Amarna  of  the 
XVIIIth  dynasty,  and  at  Memphis  of  later  periods. 
They  sometimes  contain  the  remains  of  the  siliceous 

ii8 


GLAZED  WARE 


paste  with  which  they  were  choked  when  they  were 
thrown  away.  At  Naukratis  hundreds  were  found 
for  making  scarabs  for  the  Greek  trade.  Themould- 
ed  objects  were  covered  with  glazing  wash,  and 
put  into  the  furnace.  Beads  were  commonly  made 
on  a  thread,  dried,  and  the  thread  burnt  out ;  they 
were  then  dipped  in  glaze- wash,  and  fired.  In  early 
times  small  beads  were  rolled  between  the  thumb 
and  finger  on  the  thread,  producing  a  long  tapering 
form  like  a  grain  of  corn. 

GLASS 

There  has  been  much  misunderstanding  about 
the  age  of  glass  in  Egypt.  Figures  of  smiths  blow- 
ing a  fire  with  reeds  tipped  with  clay  have  been 
quoted  as  figures  blowing  glass,  though  no  blown 
glass  is  known  in  Egypt  before  Roman  times.  A 
cylinder  of  glass  of  King  Pepy  has  been  quoted ; 
but  this  is  really  of  clear  iceland-spar  or  selenite 
lined  with  coloured  paste.  A  panther's  head  with 
the  name  of  Antef  V  has  been  called  glass,  but  it 
is  really  of  blue  paste.  Various  pieces  of  inlaid 
stone  jewellery  have  been  mistaken  for  glass,  but 
none  such  is  known  till  late  times. 

There  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  working 
of  glassy  material  by  itself,  apart  from  a  base  of 

119 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


stone  or  pottery,  until  after  1600  b.c.  The  earliest 
dated  pieces  are  an  eye  of  blue  glass  imitating  tur- 
quoise, with  the  name  of  Amenhotep  I  (1550  B.C.), 
and  a  piece  of  a  glass  vase  with  an  inlaid  name  of 
Tahutmes  III.  Beads  of  this  age  are  plain  black 
with  a  white  spot  on  opposite  sides ;  black  and  white 
glass  cups  probably  belong  to  the  same  date.  The 
variety  of  colours  quickly  increased,  and  by  the  time 
of  Amenhotep  III  and  IV,  about  1400  B.C.,  there 
were  violet,  deep  Prussian  blue,  light  blue,  green, 
yellow,  orange,  red  (rare),  clear  white,  milky  white, 
and  black. 

The  designs  were  entirely  ruled  by  the  method 
of  manufacture.  The  glass  was  never  cast,  but  was 
worked  as  a  pasty  mass,  and  all  the  decoration  was 
made  by  inlaying  threads  of  glass  drawn  out  to 
various  thicknesses.  The  actual  production  of  the 
glass  we  deal  with  below.  The  patterns  on  a  vase 
or  bead  were  produced  by  winding  threads  around 
the  body,  and  then  dragging  the  surface  at  regular 
intervals  (figs.  1 20,  1 2 1 ).  If  dragged  always  in  one 
direction,  it  made  a  series  of  loops  or  U  pattern  ;  if 
dragged  alternately  each  way  it  made  an  ogee  pat- 
tern. Around  the  neck  and  foot  a  thick  thread  was 
often  put  on,  with  a  thin  thread  spirally  round  it, 
usually  white  with  black  spiral.   The  forms  of  the 

120 


GLASS 


I20.  121.  Vases  (XVIIIth  dynasty)  122.  Mosaic  (late) 


GLASS 


vases  are  those  usual  in  other  materials  at  this  period, 


Naples,  dating  from  about  700  B.C.  It  is  distin- 
guished from  the  Egyptian  fabric  by  a  duller  sur- 
face and  duller  colouring,  and  a  common  form  un- 
known before  is  H  •   This  later  Pflass  is  usually 


mixed  with  the  U  earlier  in  museums,  and  occa- 
sionally it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  it ;  but  both  the 
forms  and  the  colour  leave  very  little  doubt  as  to 
the  age. 

This  system  of  winding  threads  of  glass  was 
usual  for  beads  also.  A  mere  chip  of  a  glass  bead 
can  be  distinguished,  whether  Egyptian  or  Roman, 
by  the  direction  of  the  streaks  and  bubbles  in  it. 
The  early  glass  is  all  wound,  with  lines  running 
around  ;  the  Roman  glass  is  all  drawn  out  and 
nicked  off,  with  lines  running  along  ;  the  medieval 
and  modern  Venetian  beads  are  again  wound,  and 
some  of  the  recent  ones  closely  imitate  Egyptian 
dragged  patterns,  but  can  be  distinguished  by  the 
opacity  of  most  of  the  colours. 

The  XVIIIth  dynasty  workers  also  cut  and  en- 
graved glass,  though  but  rarely.  They  sometimes 
produced  a  clear  glass  entirely  free  of  colouring,  even 
in  a  thickness  of  half  an  inch.   About  the  XXIIIrd 


such  as 
lowed  in 


0 


'7  .  This  same  method  was  fol- 
j  I  the  glass  found  at  Cumae  near 


121 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


dynasty  (750  B.C.)  a  clear,  greenish  Prussian  blue 
glass  was  usual  for  beads,  and  continued  to  Persian 
times  for  scarabs  (500  B.C.).  Rather  later,  about 
400--200  B.C.,  there  appears  a  large  development  of 
opaque  glass  figures  of  hieroglyphs,  cut  and  polish- 
ed, to  inlay  in  wooden  caskets  and  coffins.  Opaque 
red  and  blue  to  imitate  jasper  and  lazuli  were  the 
most  usual  colours.  Figures  of  the  four  genii  of  the 
dead  and  other  usual  amulets  were  commonly  made 
by  pressing  the  glass  into  moulds  while  heated.  A 
favourite  colouring  for  such  was  a  deep,  clear,  true 
blue, backed withopaquewhiteto  show  upthe  colour. 

About  the  later  Ptolemaic  time  and  through  the 
Roman  age  the  main  work  in  glass  is  that  of  min- 
ute mosaics  (fig.  122).  They  were  built  up  with 
glass  rods,  heated  until  they  half  fused  together, 
and  then  drawn  out  so  as  to  produce  a  great  length 
of  much  reduced  section.  Thus  patterns  of  extreme 
delicacy  were  produced  ;  and  one  single  piece  of 
construction  could  be  cut  across  into  a  hundred 
slices,  each  repeating  the  whole  design.  The  pat- 
terns are  sometimes  purely  Egyptian,  as  ankh  and 
lias  alternately,  but  more  usually  Roman,  such  as 
heads  and  flower  patterns.  Such  mosaics  were 
mounted  in  jewellery,  or,  on  a  coarser  scale,  set  in 
large  designs  for  caskets  and  temple  furniture. 

122 


GLASS 


The  characteristic  of  Roman  times  is  the  use  of 
blown  glass.  The  cups,  bottles,  and  vases  were 
nearly  all  blown,  often  with  threads  woven  around, 
dabs  attached  and  impressed,  or  patterns  stamped 
while  soft.  The  feet  of  cups  were  modelled  into 
form  while  pasty,  the  tool  marks  showing  plainly 
upon  them.  Ornamental  stamps  were  pressed  on 
soft  lumps  put  on  the  sides  of  vases.  Such  stamps 
became  used  for  official  marks,  and  in  early  Arab 
times  they  registered  the  substance  for  which  the 
glass  measure  was  intended,  also  the  amount  of 
the  capacity,  and  the  maker  s  name  in  many  cases. 
Another  main  development  of  Byzantine  and  Arab 
glass  was  for  weights,  usually  to  test  gold  and  silver 
coins,  but  also  for  larger  amounts  up  to  a  pound. 
These  weights  bear  the  stamps  of  the  Byzantine 
epochs  in  a  few  cases,  but  are  found  by  the  hundred 
of  the  VI I  Ith  to  Xth  centuries,  and  by  the  thousand 
of  the  Xth  to  Xlth  centuries,  dying  out  at  the  early 
crusading  age. 

We  now  turn  to  the  purely  technical  side,  to  de- 
scribe the  process  of  manufacture  in  the  time  of 
Amenhotep  IV,  about  1370  B.C.,  when  it  is  best 
known  to  us,  from  the  remains  of  the  factory  at  Tell- 
el- Amarna.  A  clear  glass  could  be  produced,  which 
was  usually  not  quite  colourless,  but  sufficiently  so 

123 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


to  take  up  various  colours.  It  was  free  of  lead  and 
borates,  and  consisted  of  pure  silica  from  crushed 
quartz  pebbles,  and  alkali  doubtless  from  wood 
ashes.  It  was  fused  in  pans  of  earthenware.  This 
glass  was  coloured  by  dissolving  the  blue  or  green 
frit  in  it,  or  mixing  other  opaque  colours.  Samples 
were  taken  out  by  pincers  to  test  the  colour  at  differ- 
ent stages.  The  whole  mass  was  fairly  fused,  and 
then  left  to  get  cold  in  the  earthen  pan,  which  was 
about  four  or  five  inches  across,  and  held  half  an  inch 
to  an  inch  deep  of  the  glass.  When  cold  the  pan 
was  chipped  away,  the  frothy  top  of  the  glass  was 
chipped  off,  and  lumps  of  pure  glass  were  obtained 
free  from  sediment  and  scum.  A  lump  of  glass  thus 
purified  was  heated  to  a  pasty  state,  and  patted  into 
a  cylindrical  form,  then  rolled  under  a  bar  of  metal, 
which  was  run  diagonally  across  it,  until  it  was  re- 
duced to  a  rod  about  the  size  of  a  lead  pencil,  or 
rather  less.  Such  a  rod  was  then  heated,  and  drawn 
out  into  ''cane"  about  ^  inch  thick.  Every  vase 
was  built  up  from  such  cane. 

For  making  a  vase  a  copper  mandril  was  taken, 
slightly  tapering,  of  the  size  of  the  interior  of  the 
neck.  Upon  the  end  of  this  was  built  a  body  of 
soft  siliceous  paste,  tied  up  in  rag,  and  baked  upon 
it,  of  the  size  of  the  interior  of  the  intended  vase. 

124 


GLASS 


The  marks  of  the  strinof  and  cloth  can  still  be  seen 
inside  the  vases.  On  this  body  of  powdery  material 
glass  cane  was  wound  hot  until  it  was  uniformly 
coated.  It  was  re-heated  by  sticking  the  end  of 
the  mandril  into  the  oven  as  often  as  needful ;  glass 
threads  of  various  colours  were  wound  round  it ; 
and  the  whole  was  rolled  to  and  fro  so  as  to  bed  in 
the  threads  and  make  a  smooth  surface.  A  brim,  a 
foot,andhandles  were  attached.  Finally,  oncooling, 
the  copper  mandril  contracted,  and  could  be  taken 
out  of  the  neck,  the  soft  paste  could  be  rubbed  out 
of  the  interior,  and  the  vase  was  finished.  The 
final  face  is  always  a  fused  surface,  and  was  never 
ground  or  polished. 

A  similar  mode  was  followed  for  the  glass  beads. 
The  thread  of  glass  was  wound  upon  a  hot  copper 
wire  of  the  size  of  the  hole  required  ;  and  after  pil- 
ing on  enough,  and  completing  the  pattern  of  colour, 
the  wire  contracted  in  cooling  and  could  be  with- 
drawn. The  little  point  where  the  thread  of  glass 
broke  off  can  be  seen  at  each  end  of  the  beads. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  POTTERY 

The  varieties  of  pottery  are  so  extensive  that  from 
the  prehistoric  age  alone  a  thousand  are  figured,  and 
the  later  ages  give  at  least  thrice  that  number.  We 
cannot  attempt  to  give  even  an  outline  of  a  subject 
which  alone  would  far  outrun  this  volume.  A  single 
most  typical  form  of  each  main  period  is  here  shown, 
to  illustrate  the  entirely  different  ideas  which  pre- 
vailed. 

Forms. — In  the  prehistoric  age  many  of  the  forms 
have  no  marked  brim.  The  bowls,  conical  cups,  and 
jars  simply  end  at  a  plain  edge,  like  this  marked  Pre. 
Brims  were  more  usual  in  the  later  prehistoric  age. 
A  great  variety  of  fancy  forms  appeared — double 
vases,  square  bottles,  fish,  birds,  or  women  were 
modelled  ;  and  as  the  whole  pottery  was  handmade, 
such  were  no  more  difficult  to  make  than  circular 
forms.  On  coming  to  the  1st  dynasty  the  forms  were 

126 


THE  POTTERY 


more  clumsy,  such  as  that  marked  I  ;  and  some  of 
the  earlier  forms  were  continued  in  a  very  degraded 
state.  The  main  feature  is  the  class  of  very  large 
jars,  two  to  three  feet  high,  which  were  used  for  stor- 
ing food  and  drink.   This  class  rapidly  deteriorated 


PRE-  I  V  Xll 


XVIII  XIX  XXVI  RO- 


and  became  almost  extinct  by  the  Ilird  dynasty. 
In  the  pyramid  age  some  neatly-made  pottery  is 
found  ;  thin  sharp-brimmed  bowls  were  usual,  and 
the  form  marked  V,  with  a  sharply  pointed  base, 
was  peculiar  to  this  time.  By  the  XI  Ith  dynasty  the 
globular  or  drop-shaped  pot  was  the  prevalent  type, 
and  varies  in  size  from  a  couple  of  inches  to  a  couple 

127 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


of  feet.  Drinking-cups  of  a  hemispherical  form, 
very  thin,  without  any  brim,  are  also  of  this  age. 
The  XVIIIth  dynasty  was  begun  with  long  grace- 
ful forms,  such  as  XVIII  ;  and  later  some  beautiful 
long-necked  vases  are  found.  All  of  these  forms 
rapidly  degraded  in  the  XlXth  dynasty,  and  ugly 
small  handles  come  into  use,  probably  influenced  by 
Greek  design.  In  the  XXV I th  dynasty,  lids  with 
knob  handles  became  common,  and  accordingly  the 
brim  disappeared,  and  a  plain  edge  was  used  which 
could  be  easily  capped.  The  large  jars  of  this  age 
are  of  Greek  origin.  During  the  Ptolemaic  time 
debasement  went  on  ;  and  the  most  ugly,  smug, 
commonplace  forms  belong  to  the  Roman  age. 
They  are  mostly  ribbed,  as  in  this  marked  Ro.  The 
big  amphorae  begin  with  ribbing  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  second  century,  in  broad  fluting  curves.  These 
became  narrower  and  sharper,  until  in  the  sixth  and 
seventh  centuries  the  ribbing  had  become  almost 
a  mere  combed  pattern  around  the  jar.  The  jars 
also  decreased  in  size,  were  thicker,  softer,  and 
coarser,  until  the  type  vanished  with  the  Arab 
times. 

Decoration. — The  earliest  painting  on  prehistoric 
vases  was  of  white  slip,  in  line  patterns,  copied  from 
basket-work,  and  rarely  in  figures,  such  as  fig.  65. 

128 


THE  POTTERY 


This  white  paint  was  put  over  a  bright  red  facing 
of  haematite  ;  and  such  red  and  white  pottery  is  still 
made  with  closely  similar  patterns  by  the  mountain 
tribes  of  Algeria,  where  the  style  seems  never  to 
have  died  out.  The  black  tops  of  the  early  red  vases 
we  shall  deal  with  under  Materials.  The  later  pre- 
historic painting  was  in  dull  red  on  a  buff  body,  such 
as  fig.  66.  In  the  pyramid  age  there  was  only  a 
polished  red  haematite  facing,  and  in  the  Xllth 
dynasty  even  this  was  not  used.  About  the  X  V 1 1  th 
dynasty  a  fine  red  polish  was  common,  which  ceased 
early  in  the  XVIIIth  dynasty  ;  white  on  the  brims, 
or  dabbed  in  finger-spots  over  the  inside  of  saucers, 
was  also  of  the  XVI I  th  dynasty.  Black  or  red  edges 
to  pottery  next  appeared,  and  by  Tahutmes  III 
there  was  a  style  of  narrow  black  and  red  stripes  al- 
ternating. The  use  of  blue  paint,  of  copper  frit, 
began  under  Amenhotep  II,  but  it  was  not  usual 
until  Amenhotep  III,  and  it  was  common  until  the 
close  of  the  XlXth  dynasty,  though  much  flatter 
and  poorer  than  at  first.  After  this  there  was  no 
decoration  on  pottery  until  the  late  Roman  time. 
About  the  age  of  Constantine  a  hard,  fine  pottery 
came  into  use,  with  a  thin  red  wash  on  it,  and  often 
of  a  pale  salmon  colour  throughout.  When  the 
southern  tribes  pushed  down  into  Egypt,  the 

129  9 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


brown  and  red  patterns  which  were  usual  in  Nubia 
were  carried  with  the  invaders,  and  such  painting 
was  the  main  influence  in  the  painted  Coptic 
pottery. 

Materials, — The  prehistoric  pottery  of  the  earlier 
period  is  all  of  a  soft  body,  faced  with  red  haematite. 
As  the  pots  were  usually  baked  mouth  downward, 
the  brim  was  covered  with  the  ashes;  and  these  not 
being  burnt  through,  reduced  the  red  peroxide  of 
iron  to  the  black  magnetic  sesqui-oxide,  such  as  is 
familiar  to  us  in  the  black  scale  on  sheet  steel.  The 
interior  of  the  pots  is  likewise  black,  owing  to  the  re- 
ducing gases  from  the  ashes  below;  rarely  the  heat 
after  the  combustion  has  lasted  long  enough  for  the 
oxygen  to  pass  through  the  pottery,  and  so  redden 
the  inside.  Open  dishes  were  also  haematite-faced 
inside,  and  the  iron  is  reduced  to  a  brilliant  mirror- 
like coat  of  black  all  over.  The  reason  of  the  polish 
being  smoother  on  the  black  than  on  the  red  parts 
is  that  carbonyl  gas — which  is  the  result  of  imper- 
fect combustion — is  a  solvent  of  magnetic  oxide  of 
iron,  and  so  dissolves  and  re-composes  the  surface 
facing.  On  once  understanding  the  chemistry  of 
this,  it  is  needless  to  discuss  the  old  idea  that  smoke 
blackened  this  pottery.  Smoke — or  fine  carbon  dust 
— could  not  possibly  penetrate  through  close-grained 

130 


THE  POTTERY 


pottery,  and  the  black  extends  all  through  the  mass, 
naturally  owing  to  the  action  of  reducing  gases  to 
which  the  pottery  is  quite  pervious.  There  may 
perhaps  be  some  other  kinds  of  black  pottery  in- 
fluenced by  smoke  ;  but  it  is  far  more  probable  that 
all  black  pottery  is  due  to  black  oxide  of  iron  pro- 
duced by  imperfect  combustion,  which  is  accom- 
panied by  smoke. 

In  the  later  prehistoric  age  the  pottery  has  a  hard 
reddish  buff  body  with  white  specks.  In  the  pyra- 
mid period  a  smooth  softbrown  body  isusual.  Hard 
drab  pottery  also  appears  in  the  Vth  and  Vlth  dy- 
nasties. In  the  Xllth  dynasty  the  common  soft 
brown  body  is  general,  and  extends  to  the  XVI I  Ith. 
By  the  middle  of  the  XVI I  Ith  dynasty  a  hard  drab 
ware  with  white  specks  and  faced  with  a  drab  polish 
is  very  characteristic,  and  continues  into  the  XlXth. 
Thence  onward  the  brown  body  reasserts  itself,  with 
some  inferiorgreenish  drab  ware  about  the  XXI  Ind 
dynasty.  Greek  clays  appear  during  the  XXVIth, 
but  probably  all  imported  from  Greece.  Soft  red 
pottery  belongs  to  the  Ptolemaic  age.  But  the  old 
soft  brown  rules  in  the  Roman  time,  being  at  its 
worst  in  the  early  Coptic.  The  thin  hard  ware  of 
the  Constantine  age  is  apparently  not  native,  and 
may  be  due  either  to  Nubian  or  Roman  influence. 

131 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Modelling. — A  constant  use  of  pottery  for  model- 
ling should  be  mentioned,  although  we  cannot  illus- 
trate such  a  large  subject  here,  as  it  is  only  subsidiary 
to  stone- work  in  each  age.  In  the  prehistoric  time 
rude  figures  are  often  found,  both  of  men  and  women. 
Little  is  known  of  pottery  modelling  in  the  Old  and 
Middle  Kingdoms.  Rough  figures  of  cows  are 
placed  upon  the  brims  of  bowls  about  the  Xlth  and 
XI Ith  dynasties.  In  the  XVIIIth-XXVth  dynas- 
ties a  large  use  of  roughly  modelled  ushabti  figures 
of  servants  prevailed.  But  it  is  rarely  that  the  other 
modelling  is  apart  from  foreign  influence.  A  class 
of  exquisitely  formed  figure-bottles,  of  women  and 
animals,  was  made  of  fine  foreign  clay,  probably  by 
Greeks,  at  this  age.  Also  rude  solid  figures  of 
men  and  horses  extend  from  this  time  onwards.  The 
great  age  of  pottery  figures  begins  with  the  modelled 
heads  of  foreigners  from  the  foreign  quarter  of 
Memphis,  certainly  due  to  Greek  admixture.  These 
are  admirably  done,  and  each  hand-modelled  singly. 
They  begin  about  500  B.C.,  and  by  about  300  B.C. 
moulded  figures  come  into  use.  At  first  these  are 
solid,  but  from  about  200  B.C.  down  to  300  a. d.  they 
are  moulded  hollow,  being  made  of  a  front  and  back 
half  united.  The  enormous  number  of  these  figures, 
and  of  figure-lamps  made  similarly,  is  very  familiar 

132 


THE  t  POTTERY 


from  the  Roman  period.  It  is  remarkable  what 
good  work  is  shown  in  some  figures  even  as  late  as 
250  A. D.  The  late  dating  of  the  figures  and  the 
varieties  of  the  lamps  are  illustrated  in  Roman 
Ehnasya  from  my  own  excavations. 


CHAPTER  XII 


IVORY-WORKING 

In  prehistoric  times  ivory  was  much  used,  doubt- 
less owing  to  the  elephant  being  still  abundant  in 
southern  Egypt.  The  natural  form  of  the  tusk  was 
often  left,  and  the  surface  worked  in  low  relief ; 
but  the  earlier  work  was  on  small  pieces,  as  in  figs. 
3,  15,  17.  Not  only  elephant  ivory  was  used,  but 
also  that  of  the  hippopotamus.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  1st  dynasty  ivory  was  largely  used  for  statu- 
ettes and  carvings.  One  of  the  best  examples  of 
this  school  is  the  figure  of  the  aged  king  (fig.  21). 
Many  other  carvings  of  girls,  boys,  apes,  lions  and 
dogs  were  found  with  this  at  Abydos.  At  Hiera- 
konpolis  a  great  mass  of  ivories  was  found  in  a 
trench  six  feet  long,  and  many  of  them  have  been 
preserved.  They  are  figures  of  men  and  women, 
carved  tusks,  wands,  and  cylinders.  In  the  tomb  of 
Menas  queen  at  Naqadeh  were  ivory  lions  and 
dogs,  and  such  were  also  found  in  the  tomb  of  King 

134 


IVORY-WORKING 


Zer  at  Abydos,  used  for  gaming  pieces.  All  of 
this  early  ivory- work  is  vigorous,  and  has  the  char- 
acter and  spirit  of  the  early  art. 

The  finest  work  known  in  ivory  is  the  portrait  of 
Khufu,  the  builder  of  the  great  pyramid  (fig.  123). 
It  is  here  much  magnified,  as  the  face  is  only  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  high.  Yet  in  this  minute  space 
one  of  the  most  striking  portraits  has  been  given. 
The  far-seeing  determination,  the  energy  and  will 
expressed  in  this  compass,  would  animate  a  life- 
size  figure ;  indeed,  it  would  be  hard  in  the  illus- 
tration to  distinguish  it  from  a  work  on  a  large  scale. 
The  correct  position  of  the  ear  should  be  noted,  as 
it  is  always  put  too  high  up  in  later  sculpture. 
Quite  apart  from  the  marvellous  minuteness  of  the 
work,  we  must  estimate  this  as  one  of  the  finest 
character-sculptures  that  remain  to  us. 

A  piece  of  open  work,  of  a  girl  standing,  is  pro- 
bably of  the  Old  Kingdom  (fig.  124).  It  is  not  of 
the  style  of  hair  or  treatment  of  the  Middle  or  New 
Kingdom  ;  and  in  the  Saitic  age,  when  the  older 
style  was  copied,  the  work  is  worse  in  pose  and 
much  more  detailed  and  punctilious.  There  are 
some  beautiful  pieces  of  architectural  models  in 
ivory,  from  the  inlaying  of  a  casket,  and,  also,  a 
figure  of  the  Vth  dynasty. 

13s 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Of  the  Middle  Kingdom  an  ivory  baboon  is  per- 
haps the  finest  work ;  it  has  disappeared  from  the 
museum  when  at  Bulak,  and  its  place  is  unknown. 
A  broken  figure  of  a  boy  carrying  a  calf  shows 
great  truth  and  spirit.  Ivory  was  also  used  for 
lion-head  draughtsmen  in  the  XVIIIth  dynasty, 
but  there  are  no  fine  works  of  that  time. 

Of  the  XXV I  th  dynasty  two  fine  pieces  have 
been  found  at  Memphis,  a  lotus  flower  (fig.  125)  and 
a  man  bearing  offerings  (fig.  1 26).  These  had  been 
applied  to  the  sides  of  caskets  or  other  small  wood- 
work. The  figure  of  the  man  is  but  a  stiff  and 
coarse  copy  of  the  Old  Kingdom  work,  lacking  the 
truth  and  freedom  of  the  early  time. 

There  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  distinct- 
ive school  of  ivory-work  in  Egypt.  The  methods 
and  nature  of  the  objects  are  just  what  might  have 
been  done  in  stone  or  in  wood  at  the  same  period. 
There  is  no  sign  of  a  special  development  due 
to  the  material,  as  there  is  in  the  Chinese  ivory- 
carving. 


IVORY 


124.  Girl,  Old  Kingdom  123.  King  Khutu 

125.  Lotus  (XXVIth  dynasty)  126.  Bearer  of  offerings 


CHAPTER  XIII 


WOODWORK 

Wood  was  by  no  means  so  rare  in  early  times  as 
it  is  now  in  Egypt.  Floyer  has  shown  how  much 
the  desert  has  been  stripped  by  the  introduction  of 
the  tree-feeding  camel.  We  see  in  the  royal  tombs 
of  the  1st  dynasty  a  large  use  of  wood.  The 
funeral  chamber  sunk  in  the  ground  was  entirely 
built  of  massive  beams  and  planks.  The  area  of 
this  room  was  900  square  feet  in  the  largest  tomb, 
varying  down  to  300  in  the  lesser.  The  framing 
of  the  floor,  the  supports,  and  the  roof  beams  were 
about  10  X  7  inches  in  section  and  up  to  21  feet  in 
length.  The  planking  of  the  floor  still  remains 
2  to  2^  inches  thick  ;  and  probably  that  of  the  roof 
was  equal  to  it,  as  it  had  to  bear  about  three  feet 
of  sand  over  it.  The  great  scale  of  this  timber  work 
agrees  with  the  royal  axe-man  "  being  one  of  the 
high  officials ;  before  stone  came  into  use,  this  title 
^  137 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


was  the  equivalent  of  chief  architect.  Such  a  free 
use  of  wood  shows  that  the  elaborate  framing  of 
fa9ades,  which  is  represented  as  a  usual  pattern  in 
early  stone- work,  was  actually  copied  from  wooden 
mansions,  just  as  the  Greek  architecture  was  an 
elaborate  copy  of  woodwork.  At  the  close  of  the 
Ilird  dynasty  we  have  a  glimpse  of  the  large  use 
of  wood  for  shipbuilding,  when  Senoferu  built  in 
one  year  sixty  ships,  and  imported  forty  ships  of 
cedar.  The  great  gates  of  the  temple  enclosures 
and  palaces  must  also  have  been  massive  works  ; 
the  outer  and  inner  pylon  at  Karnak  had  gates 
fifteen  feet  w^ide  on  either  side,  and  over  sixty  feet 
high. 

The  wooden  coffins  of  the  Old  Kingdom  are 
heavy  boxes  with  sides  two  to  three  inches  thick. 
They  are  fastened  together  by  bolts  of  wood  ;  and 
such  wooden  pegs  are  run  diagonally  in  different 
directions  so  as  to  prevent  the  parts  being  separated. 
Coffins  hollowed  out  of  a  single  block,  to  fit  the  out- 
line of  the  mummy,  were  also  used  in  all  the  earlier 
periods.  In  late  times  such  forms  were  built  up  of 
boards. 

For  securing  the  joints  of  furniture  from  racking, 
two  correct  systems  were  used.  For  chairs,  angle- 
pieces  were  cut  from  wood  with  bent  grain,  and 

138 


FURNITURE 


Chair,  caskets,  and  bed  of  Amenhotep  III 


WOODWORK 


fitted  on  inside  the  angles.  There  must  have  been 
a  constant  demand  for  such  bent  pieces,  and  pro- 
bably they  were  grown  into  shape.  In  other  cases 
forms  of  wood  have  been  found  which  had  clearly 
been  grown  for  many  years  into  the  shape  required. 
The  angle-pieces  can  be  seen  under  the  front  of 
the  seat  in  fig.  128.  Another  system  for  stands 
was  to  put  in  diagonal  bars,  as  in  fig.  130.  Some- 
times merely  the  stiffness  of  deep  panelling  was 
trusted,  as  in  fig.  129.  For  the  backs  of  chairs  an 
excellent  triangular  stay  was  made,  as  in  fig.  127. 

The  light  and  skilful  forms  of  the  woodwork  are 
well  shown  in  the  furniture  (figs.  1 27-1 3 1 )  from  the 
tomb  of  Yuaa  and  Thuiu,  the  parents  of  Queen 
Thyi,  in  the  XVII  Ith  dynasty.  The  reliefs  on  the 
chair  are  carved  in  wood  and  gilded.  The  decora- 
tion on  the  casket  (fig.  1 29)  is  of  blue  glazed  hiero- 
glyphs and  inlays. 

Wood  was  also  much  used  for  statuettes.  The 
ebony  negress  and  other  figures  (figs.  40-42)  showit 
on  a  small  scale;  larger  figures  were  also  made,  such 
as  several  in  the  Turin  Museum,  and  some  of  life- 
size,  but  the  latter  are  coarser  in  work,  as  the  figure 
of  Sety  I  in  the  British  Museum.  A  fine  figure 
almost  life-size  remains  from  the  XII Ith  dynasty, 
King  Hor,  in  the  Cairo  Museum. 

139 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


A  system  of  inlaying  coloured  stones,  glazes  or 
glass,  in  wood  as  a  basis,  is  found  as  early  as  the 
Vth  dynasty,  in  the  model  vases  of  Nofer-ar-ka-ra. 
In  the  XVIIIth  dynasty  this  method  of  decora- 
tion is  seen  on  the  gigantic  mummy-cases  of  the 
Queens  Aah-hotep  and  Aahmes,  which  were  inlaid, 
probably  with  lazuli.  The  inlay  was  so  valuable 
that  soon  after  it  was  all  prised  out  with  the  corner 
of  an  adze,  and  blue  paint  substituted  for  it.  In  the 
XXIIIrd  dynasty  decorative  figures  were  wrought 
in  wood,  with  the  whole  detail  in  inlay,  as  in  the 
group  of  Pedubast.  And  in  the  Greek  period  large 
wooden  coffins  were  encrusted  with  inlay  of  coloured 
glass,  and  the  sides  of  wooden  shrines  were  similar- 
ly the  basis  for  brilliant  polychrome  adornment. 

Regarding  the  methods  of  woodworking,  cer- 
tainly the  axe  was  the  primitive  tool,  as  shown  by 
the  royal  architect  being  designated  by  the  axe.  In 
the  scenes  of  the  pyramid  age  we  find  the  saw  about 
three  feet  long  worked  with  both  hands,  the  mallet 
and  chisel  for  cutting  mortise-holes,  and  the  adze 
in  constant  use  for  shaping  and  for  smoothing  wood. 
To  this  day  the  small  adze  is  a  favourite  tool  of  the 
Egyptian  carpenter  and  boat-builder.  For  smooth- 
ing down  the  caulking  inside  a  boat,  heavy  poun- 
ders of  stone  were  used,  held  by  a  handle  worked 

140 


WOODWORK 


out  on  each  side  of  the  block.  Drills  were  also 
commonly  used  both  on  wood  and  stone,  worked 
by  a  bow.  The  subject  of  tools  and  their  varia- 
tions is  a  very  wide  one,  which  cannot  be  entered 
upon  here. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


PLASTER  AND  STUCCO 

In  the  masonry  of  the  pyramids  plaster  is  constant- 
ly used,  both  to  fill  joints  as  a  bedding,  and  f 
level  up  hollows  in  a  face.  The  plaster  used  is  a 
mixture  of  ordinary  lime  and  plaster  of  Paris,  the 
carbonate  and  sulphate  of  lime.  How  it  was  intro- 
duced into  the  joints  of  the  pyramid  casing  is  a  mys- 
tery. The  blocks  at  the  base  weigh  sixteen  tons,  so 
that  no  free  sliding  to  reduce  the  joint-filling  could 
be  done  ;  yet  the  vertical  joint,  five  feet  high  and 
seven  feet  long,  is  filled  with  a  film  of  plaster  only 
a  fiftieth  of  an  inch  thick.  The  joints  of  the  ma- 
sonry in  the  passages  and  chambers  are  all  filled 
with  plaster,  though  so  close  as  to  be  almost  im- 
perceptible. In  the  core  masonry  a  coarse  plaster 
was  poured  between  the  stones  and  filled  into  hol- 
lows. The  flaws  and  defects  in  the  faces  of  stones 
were  freely  filled  with  plaster,  which  was  coloured 
to  match  the  stone.    In  rock  tombs  plaster  was  used 

142 


PLASTER  AND  STUCCO 


to  fill  up  cracks  and  hollows  ;  and  it  often  remains 
in  perfect  condition  while  the  rock  around  has 
decayed. 

Plaster  was  also  used  on  the  brick  walls,  which 
were  faced  with  a  hard  coat  about  a  tenth  to  a  six- 
teenth of  an  inch  thick,  upon  which  paintings  were 
executed.  By  the  XVIIIth  dynasty  this  became 
a  mere  whitewash  over  the  mud-facing  of  the  wall. 
In  the  roughly-hewn  rock  tombs  of  that  age  at 
Thebes,  the  jagged  surfaces  were  smoothed  by  a 
coat  of  plaster,  often  two  or  three  inches  thick  in 
the  hollows.  A  strange  use  of  stucco  was  for  a 
thin  coat  over  sculpture,  as  a  basis  for  colouring. 
Such  a  coat  was  even  laid  over  statuary.  In  all 
ages  this  hid  to  some  extent  the  full  detail  of  the 
sculptor's  work  in  reliefs.  In  the  XI  Ith  dynasty  the 
finest  lines  were  hidden  by  it;  and  on  coming  down 
to  the  Ptolemaic  times  the  plasterer  ignored  all  the 
sculpture  below^  filling  the  figures  with  a  smooth 
daub  of  plaster  on  which  the  painter  drew  what  he 
liked.  It  seems  strange  why  the  sculptors  should 
have  continued  to  put  fine  work  and  detail  on  to  a 
surface  where  they  were  going  to  be  at  once  ignored. 
It  suggests  a  rigid  bureaucracy  in  which  the  sculp- 
ture had  to  be  passed  by  one  man,  and  the  painting 
by  another,  without  any  collaboration. 

143 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


Stucco  was  used  for  independent  modelling,  as 
in  Italy.  It  was  laid  on  a  flat  canvas  base,  stretched 
over  wood,  and  the  whole  relief  was  in  the  stucco. 
The  chariot  of  Tahutmes  IV  is  one  of  the  main 
examples  of  such  work,  of  which  a  small  portion 
is  shown  in  fig.  132.  The  relief  is  low  and  smooth, 
and  full  of  detail ;  there  is  none  of  the  sketchy 
rough  tooling,  as  seen  in  Roman  stucco  reliefs. 
Minute  details  of  dress  and  hair  are  all  tooled  in, 
and  supply  some  of  the  best  studies  of  Syrian  robes. 
The  varying  patterns  on  the  shields  of  different 
branches  of  Syrians,  the  feathering  of  the  arrows, 
the  shape  of  the  daggers,  and  the  flowers  of  the 
papyrus  and  lotus  of  north  and  south,  are  all  most 
precisely  rendered.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  any 
point  in  which  more  details  could  be  introduced. 

Plaster  was  also  used  for  casting  in  moulds,  and 
for  making  moulds.  The  death  mask  of  Akhen- 
aten  shows  how  such  castings  were  produced  in  the 
XVIIIth  dynasty,  from  a  single  mould  without  any 
undercutting,  to  serve  the  purpose  of  the  sculptor 
as  a  model.  Of  later  examples  of  such  castings  we 
have  here  a  lion's  head  and  a  king's  head  (figs.  133, 
134).  They  were  probably  made  to  be  supplied  as 
school  copies  to  the  workshops  where  the  sculptors 
were  trained.    Plaster  moulds  are  very  common  at 

144 


PLASTER 


132.  Stucco  relief  modelling  (XVIIIth  dynasty) 
133,  134.  Plaster  castings  for  studies 


PLASTER  AND  STUCCO 


Memphis,  and  it  is  said  they  were  even  used  for 
casting  bronze  work.  This  is  very  doubtful,  as 
plaster  is  reduced  to  powder  at  260''  C,  while  moulds 
for  bronze  casting  must  be  heated  to  1500''  to  1800° 
C.  ;  they  are  more  probably  for  casting  pewter. 
Plaster  moulds  were  also  used  for  moulding  pottery 
lamps.  The  oiling  of  plaster  was  done  on  painted 
plaster  statuettes,  so  as  to  make  them  waterproof 
They  can  still  be  scrubbed  in  water  without  dis- 
turbing the  colour. 

The  most  artistic  use  of  plaster  was  for  the  mo- 
delled heads,  which  were  placed  on  mummy  cases 
in  Roman  times.  Though  most  such  works  were 
rather  crude,  some  are  found  which  show  real  ability 
of  portraiture.  In  fig.  135  we  have  a  sympathetic 
study  of  the  face  of  a  young  man.  The  lips  are 
beautifully  true,  the  modelling  of  the  cheek  is  quite 
natural,  the  nose  and  brow  well  formed  ;  only  the 
eyes  have  been  left  blank,  and  marked  afterwards 
with  colour.  The  head,  fig.  1 36,  is  evidently  a  care- 
ful study,  giving  the  cautious,  cold  expression  of 
the  man.  Another  face  (fig.  137)  is  subtle,  and  full 
of  feeling  :  the  faint  smile  on  the  lips,  the  gracious 
contour  of  the  cheek,  the  wavy  hair,  give  a  memory 
in  death  of  a  real  personality.  The  only  jarring 
feature  is  the  square  brow,  copied  from  an  unfortu- 

145  10 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


nate  convention  in  Greek  art.  The  eyes  are  here 
again  left  blank ;  but  they  seem  to  have  been  in- 
tended to  be  open,  by  the  slight  ridge  of  the  raised 
lid.  Was  there  a  convention  of  regarding  the  dead 
as  incapable  of  seeing,  though  seen  by  memory  ? 
How  far  these  modelled  heads  were  portraits  is 
answered  in  a  curious  way  by  fig.  138.  The  light 
outline  there  is  that  of  the  plaster  modelling,  the 
dark  outline  within  it  is  the  skull  from  the  interior 
of  the  coffin.  It  will  be  seen  how  exactly  they 
agree ;  there  is  a  thin  skin  over  the  forehead,  then 
a  fleshy  part  to  the  brow.  Along  the  bridge  of  the 
nose  the  model  closely  follows  the  bone  ;  below  the 
nose  the  angle  of  meeting  of  the  jaws  exactly  agrees, 
leaving  a  uniform  thickness  of  lips  ;  and  lastly,  the 
fleshy  fulness  of  the  chin  is  seen  projecting.  This 
agreement  is  one  which  the  artist  could  never  have 
expected  to  be  thus  tested,  and  therefore  gives  us 
the  more  confidence  in  his  skill. 


PLAS I ER 


135,  136,  137.  Modelled  heads 


138.  Modelled  head  and  skull 


i 


CHAPTER  XV 


CLOTHING 

Though  leather  hides,  with  the  hair  on,  are  found 
over  bodies  in  the  earhest  graves,  yet  linen  cloth 
was  introduced  early  in  the  prehistoric  times,  and 
is  frequently  found  wrapped  around  the  bodies. 

On  reaching  the  first  dynasty  the  weaving  is  seen 
to  be  very  fine  and  regular,  though  we  only  have 
some  of  the  stuff  used  for  mummy  wrappings,  from 
the  tomb  of  King  Zer.  The  threads  are  very  uni- 
form, and  there  are  1 60  to  the  inch  in  the  warp  and 
120  in  the  woof  Modern  fine  cambric  has  140 
threads  to  the  inch,  so  it  was  quite  equalled  by  hand 
work  at  the  beginning  of  Egyptian  history.  A 
group  of  a  dozen  different  cloths  on  one  mummy  of 
the  XVI  Ith  dynasty  show  138x40  and  128  x  56 
as  the  finest,  and  2 1  x  1 5  as  the  coarsest  mesh.  The 
greatest  disproportion  of  the  threads  is  138  to  40, 
or  3^^  to  1,  and  the  least  is  70  to  62,  or  9  to  8  ;  it  is 

147 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


recognised  as  a  principle  of  Egyptian  weaving  that 
the  woof  was  not  beaten  up  as  closely  as  the  lay  of 
the  warp.  Unfortunately  we  have  scarcely  any  cloth 
except  mummy  wrappings,  and  it  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  the  finest  work  would  be  thus  used. 

The  size  of  the  looms  was  considerable.  The 
cloths  on  the  mummy  just  named  are  up  to  five  feet 
wide  ;  and  one  edge  has  been  torn  off  that  amount, 
so  it  was  originally  more.  The  pieces  are  up  to  sixty 
feet  long,  and  yet  not  complete.  The  looms  were 
horizontal  on  the  ground  for  coarse  work,  such  as 
mats ;  but  fine  work  was  done  on  a  vertical  loom, 
and  from  the  ease  of  displacing  threads  in  tapestry 
the  warp  threads  were  separately  weighted  and  not 
fastened  to  a  beam.  Loom  weights  of  baked  clay 
or  of  limestone  are  common. 

A  few  pieces  of  woven  tapestry  have  been  found 
in  the  tomb  of  Tahutmes  IV,  and  part  of  one  is 
given  here  full  size  in  fig.  139.  The  colours  used 
are  red,  blue,  green,  yellow,  brown  and  grey.  The 
coloured  threads  pass  to  and  fro  over  the  space 
assigned  to  them,  thus  entirely  parting  the  warp 
threads  from  the  neighbouring  ones,  so  that  a  slit 
is  left  along  the  vertical  margins  of  the  colours.  This 
was  remedied  by  stitching  ;  but  the  same  weakness 
is  seen  in  the  Roman  and  Coptic  woven  tapestries. 

148 


CLOTHING 


139.  Coloured  tapestry  (XVlIIth  dynasty) 


140.  Cut  leather  net 


CLOTHING 


These  are  known  from  the  pagan  period,  as  there 
are  many  mythological  subjects  ;  but  the  greater 
part  belongtothe  Christian  and  Mohammedan  ages. 

The  Roman  and  Coptic  tapestries  are  placed 
upon  garments  as  derivatives  from  darning,  or  from 
patches  put  on  the  garments  to  prevent  them  wear- 
ing through.  Thepositions  are  broad  stripesoverthe 
shoulders  where  any  object  would  rest  when  carried, 
circular  patches  on  the  breasts  and  on  the  knees. 
On  referring  to  the  hundreds  of  figures  in  Roman 
dress  from  the  third  to  fifth  centuries  (in  Garucci, 
Vetri  ornati  di figure  in  oro\  embroideries  or  tapes- 
tries are  unusual  in  Italy.  A  dozen  robes  with  scrolls 
or  foliage  patterns  are  shown,  but  only  three  with 
knee  patches,  and  one  of  those  (xxxi,  i)  is  a  female 
servant  holding  an  Egyptian  fan,  probably  there- 
fore an  Egyptian  slave.  It  seems,  then,  that  this 
system  of  circular  patches  on  the  wearing  parts  is 
not  Roman  but  Egyptian.  Beside  the  woven  tapes- 
tries, which  are  nearly  all  in  purple,  embroidery  was 
done  with  the  needle  in  white  thread  on  the  purple 
ground. 

Leatherwork  was  of  importance  in  Egypt  in  all 
ages.  The  two  principal  arts  in  it  were  the  applique 
work  in  colours,  and  the  cutting  of  network.  The 
great  example  of  the  appliqu6  work  is  the  funeral 

149 


ARTS  &  CRAFTS  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


tent  of  Queen  Isiemkheb,  about  looo  b.c.  It  was 
eight  feet  long  and  seven  feet  wide,  with  sides  over 
five  feet  high.  Six  vultures  are  outspread  along  the 
top,  and  the  sides  have  a  long  inscription.  The 
whole  of  the  figures  and  signs  are  cut  out  in 
variously  coloured  leather,  and  stitched  on  to  the 
crimson  leather  ground.  This  work  we  can  trace 
in  the  style  of  earlier  decorations,  back  to  the  head 
fillet  of  Nofert,  fig.  24.  It  is  also  continued  down 
to  the  present  day  in  the  applique  work  in  coloured 
stuffs  on  the  inside  of  Egyptian  tents. 

The  cutting  of  leather  nets  was  an  art  of  great 
skill.  Rows  of  slits  were  cut,  breaking  joint  one 
with  other,  so  that  a  piece  of  leather  could  be  drawn 
out  sideways  into  a  wide  net.  One  of  the  most 
delicate  of  such  nets  is  partly  shown  in  fig.  140. 
The  square  patch  left  in  the  middle  of  the  net  was 
for  the  wear  of  sitting  on  when  the  net  was  put 
over  the  linen  waist  cloth.  Such  nets  over  the  cloth 
are  shown  in  the  figures  of  the  harvesters,  fig.  70, 
with  the  slit  network  and  the  square  patch.  To  cut 
the  leather  in  such  extremely  fine  threads  must 
have  required  great  skill  and  care  ;  and  not  only  is 
the  leather  slit,  but  considerable  slips  have  been 
removed  so  as  to  produce  an  open  net  close  up  to 
the  edge  band  of  solid  leather ;  on  some  edges  an 

150 


CLOTHING 


inch  or  two  is  cut  away  to  form  one  side  of  the 
rhombic  opening. 

In  many  directions  we  have  now  traced  the  out- 
lines of  the  artistic  skill  of  the  Egyptians,  but  only 
outlines,  which  point  incessantly  to  the  wide  spaces 
that  need  to  be  filled  in  by  further  detail.  Much  of 
that  has  yet  to  be  discovered,  but  much  is  ready  to 
hand  whensoever  a  careful  observer  may  choose  to 
devote  attention  to  any  of  the  branches  of  art  or 
technical  work  which  we  have  so  briefly  noticed. 
In  every  direction  a  complete  collecting  of  materials 
and  an  adequate  publication  of  them  would  bring 
a  full  reward  in  results. 

The  powerful  technical  skill  of  Egyptian  art,  its 
good  sense  of  limitations,  and  its  true  feeling  for 
harmony  and  expression,  will  always  make  it  of  the 
first  importance  to  the  countries  of  the  West  with 
which  it  was  so  early  and  so  long  connected. 


INDEX 


Aah-hotep  jewellery,  91,  92. 
Aahmes  I,  jewellery,  92. 

II,  inlaid  hawk-head,  103. 
Aahmes-si  neit-rannu  (fig.  9),  21. 
Abu  Simbel,  28. 
Accuracy  of  work,  81,  82. 
Ainofer  servant,  16. 
Akhenaten    (Amenhotep  IV), 

art  of,  20,  53  ;  sculpture, 
V    41  ;    relief,    53  ;  death 

mask,  144. 
Alabaster  sculpture,  25  ;  vases, 

78. 

Amenardys,  statue  of,  26,  44. 
Amenemhat  III,  39,  88. 
Amenhotep  I,  120. 

II,  26,  III,  129. 

III,  26,  28,  53,  III,  120,  129. 
official  of,  41. 

IV,  26,  III,  120. 
Amethyst  beads,  80,  86. 
Amulets  of  stone,  79. 

of  glaze,  114. 
Animals,  real  and  mythical,  49. 
Antef  V,  119. 
Antimony  used,  104. 
Arch  avoided  externally,  6. 

known  early,  64. 

form  of  brick,  64. 

built  without  centring,  65. 
Architecture,  62-68. 


Armlets  of  flint,  8 1 .  See  Bangles. 
Art  belongs  to  country,  i,  2. 

absent  from  copying,  2,  53. 

conditions  in  Egypt,  2. 

dominated  by  strong  light,  3. 

accepted  strong  contrasts,  4. 

ruled  by  level  and  vertical 
hnes,  5. 

analysis  by  Tolstoy,  7. 

expression  of  character,  7-10, 
19. 

truth  of  Egyptian,  9. 
greatest  under  pyramid  kings, 
16,  17. 

rapidity  of  development,  17, 
51. 

decay  of,  18. 

of  character  and  of  emotion, 
19. 

Asiatic  conquests  influence  art, 
19. 

Aswan,  school  of,  27. 
Axe  of  Aahmes,  92. 

Baboon,  ivory,  136. 
Bak-en-khonsu,  head  of,  44. 
Bangles,    94.     See  Bracelets, 

Armlets. 
Basalt,  green,  sculpture  in,  24, 

40. 

black,  for  building,  70. 

52 


INDEX 


Basalt,  used  for  vases,  78. 
Beads,  materials  of,  80. 

gold,  84. 

open-work,  94. 

glazed,  119. 

glass,  121,  125. 
Bee  amulet,  80. 
Blue,  manufacture  of,  117. 

paint  on  vases,  129. 
Bracelets  of  Zer,  84. 

of  Aah-hotep,  92. 

of  Ramessu  II,  93. 

silver,  93. 

gold,  95. 

Coptic,  95. 
Brick  building,  sloping  inward 
62. 

Bronze,  use  of,  100,  loi. 

origin  of,  loi. 
Building  transport,  74. 
Bull  hunt,  54. 

Bull  trampling  on  enemy,  14. 
Bull's  head  amulet,  79. 
Bushman  type,  29. 
Button  seals,  86. 

Canon  of  drawing  figures,  50. 
Capitals,  early  forms  of,  67. 
Captives,  influence  on  art,  19. 
Casting  of  gold,  85,  89. 

of  bronze,  10 1. 

in  plaster,  144. 
Ceiling  pattern,  58. 
Chains,  patterns  of,  86,  91. 
Character  in  art,  8,  9,  19. 
Civil  service,  organizing,  16. 
Claw  amulet,  79. 
Cleopatra  Cocce  (Ptolemaic),  21 
Cloison  inlaying,  87-89,  93,  95. 
Cobalt  colour  of  glaze,  118. 
Colossi,  raising  of,  77. 

weight  of,  26. 


Colours,  making  of,  1 1 7. 
Columns,  palm,  lotus,  polygonal, 

.67- 

Conditions  of  Egyptian  art,  2-5. 

Conquest  of  Egypt  by  artistic 
race,  14. 

Constantine,  pottery  of,  129, 131. 

Contrasts  of  desert  and  cultiva- 
tion, 4. 

Conventions  absent  in  early  art, 

Copper,  colours  from,  1 16-1 18. 
Copper  work,  98-100. 
Coptic  pottery,  painted,  130. 

tapestry,  148. 
Copying,  a  degradation,  2,  17, 

20,  21. 
Cornice,  origin  of,  63. 
Crocodile  amulet,  79. 
Crowns  of  Xllth  dynasty,  88. 
Cumaean  glass,  121. 

Daggers  of  Aahmes,  92. 
Degradation  of  art,  17,  20,  51. 
Deir  el  Bahri,  5,  52. 
Desert,  contrasts  of,  4. 

art  in  Eastern,  25,  39. 
Detail,  treatment  of,  18. 
Diorite,  sculpture  in,  24,  34,  70, 

. .  78. 

Divisions,  political  and  artistic,  v. 
Drawing,  58-61. 
Dressing  stone  faces,  71,  72. 
Drills,  tubular,  72. 

flint,  79. 
Dynastic  new  art,  14,  30. 
Dynasty  I,  14,  49,  84-86,  108, 
126,  135,  147. 

n,  32. 

IV,  16,  50,  129,  135. 

V,  67,  127,  131,  140. 

VI,  17,  86,  109,  131. 


INDEX 


Dynasty  XI,  17,  51. 

XII,  18,  26,  27,  36,  52,  87,  no, 

127,  129,  131,  136. 

XVIII,  19,  26,  27,  40,  52,  91, 
no,  120,  128,  129,  131, 
139,  140,  143,  144,  148. 

XIX,  20,  27,  53,  92-94,  n3, 

128,  129,  131. 

XX,  21,  54. 
XXIII,  94,  113,  121. 
XXVI,  21,  54,  n3,  128,  131, 

136. 

Ptolemaic,  21,  95,  115,  131. 
Roman,  22,  95,  ns,  123,  131, 
145. 

Earrings,  93,  94. 

Coptic,  95. 
Emery,  used  for  cutting,  72, 

Emotional  art,  19. 
Enamel,  Roman,  94. 
Eye  amulet,  80. 

Eyes  inserted  in  copper  frames, 
33. 

relation  to  brow,  36,  40. 
gibbous  and  narrow,  37,  38. 
not  detailed,  77,  145,  146. 

Fan  bearer,  figure  of,  1 14. 
Figures,  canon  of  drawing,  50. 

modelled  in  pottery,  132. 
Fish  offerers,  39. 
Fist  amulet,  80. 
Flask  of  bronze,  loi. 
Flint  drills,  79. 

working,  80. 
Floret  crown,  88. 
Fluted  metal  vases,  loi. 
Fly  amulet,  79. 

Foil,  impressed,  86,  90,  93,  94. 
Foreign  influences  on  art,  vi. 

I 


Foundations,  74. 
Frog  amulet,  79,  80. 
Furnaces  for  glazing,  117,  n8 
Furniture,  138,  139. 

Gates  of  temples,  immense,  i 
Gazelles  of  palm,  15,  49. 
Geese  of  Medum,  56. 
Gilding,  84,  96. 
Girl  somersaulting,  59. 
Glass,  n9,  125. 

earliest,  n9. 

black  and  white,  120. 

varied  colours,  120,  122. 

patterns  on,  120. 

forms  of  vases,  121. 

beads,  121,  125. 

engraved,  121. 

mosaic,  122. 

blown,  123. 

weights,  123. 

manufacture  of,  123-125. 
Glazed  ware,  io7-n9. 
origin  of,  107. 
two-coloured,  108. 
tiles,  108. 
tablets,  109. 

colours  of,  io9-n5,  n8. 

pendants,  112. 

architectural,  n2. 

ushabtis,  113. 

figures,  114. 

late,  n4,  115. 

body,  115. 

stone  ware,  116. 

decomposition  of,  116. 

manufacture  of  frit,  117. 

moulded,  n8. 

inlay  in  wood,  140. 
Glazing  on  quartz,  107. 

on  pottery,  108,  n5. 
Gleaners,  paintings  of,  56,  57. 


INDEX 


Gold,  sources  of,  83. 

leaf,  84,  96. 

casting,  85,  89. 

wire,  85,  86,  90. 

soldering,  85,  86,  90. 

base,  94. 

over  plaster,  95. 
Granite,  black,  school  of,  24. 

red,  school  of,  27. 

temple,  65. 

quarrying,  70,  71. 

sawn,  72. 
Granulated  work,  90. 
Greek  influence  in  Egypt,  47, 
146. 

pottery  figures,  132. 

Hammer  dressing  of  stone,  74. 
Hand  amulet,  80. 
Hand  work  on  stone  vases,  78. 
Harvest  scenes,  56,  57. 
Hatshepsut,  sculpture  of,  52. 
Hawk  amulet,  79. 

protecting  king,  35. 
Heads  modelled  in  plaster,  145, 
146. 

Helwan  quarries,  70. 
Hieroglyphs,  cutting  of,  74. 
Hor,  statue  of,  42,  139. 
Hyaena  and  bull  relief,  14,  49. 
Hyksos  type,  so-called,  24,  37, 

38. 

Inlaid  metal,  92,  103. 

Iron,  rare  appearances  of,  104. 

sources  of,  105. 

tools,  106. 

cores  for  bronze,  102. 
Isiemkheb,  tent  of,  1 50. 
Isis,  head  of,  1 14. 
Ivory  carving,  prehistoric,  12, 
134. 


Ivory  carving,  1st  dynasty,  31,  32, 
134. 

IVth  dynasty,  135. 
Xllth  dynasty,  136. 
XXVIth  dynasty,  136. 

Jackal  he^d  jLjRulet,  80. 
r  Jewellery,  ^3-97^ 

Ka-aper,  33. 
Kauat,  princess,  51. 
Keft  inlaying,  103. 
Kha-em-hat,  tomb  of,  20. 
Khafra,  statue  of,  34. 

accuracy  of,  82. 
Khaker  ornament,  64. 
Kha-sekhem,  head  of,  32. 
Khety,  copper  brazier  of,  99. 
Khufu,  organizing  by,  16. 

figure  of,  34,  135- 

accuracy  of,  81. 
Koptos,  colossi  from,  30. 

Lazuli  beads,  80,  85. 

inlaying,  88,  91. 
Lead  used,  103. 

Leather  the  earliest  clothing,  147. 

applique  work,  149. 

slit  network,  150. 
Lifting  of  stones,  75. 
Light,  conditions  of  strong,  3. 
Limestone  sculpture,  school  of, 

25- 

earliest,  31. 
working  in,  69. 
Linen,  fineness  of,  147. 
Lines    level    and   vertical  in 

Egypt,  5. 

Lion,  figures  of,  30,  39. 

amulet,  80. 
Literature  compared  with  art, 
7,  8. 


155 


INDEX 


Looms,  148. 
Lotus  capitals,  67. 
flower,  ivory,  136. 

Manganese  colour  of  glaze,  1 1 8. 
Mastaba  tomb -chapels,  16,  50. 
Materials  of  sculpture,  23. 
Medinet  Habu  temple,  66. 
Memphis,  head  from,  46. 
Mendes  bowls,  96. 
Menkaura,  accuracy  of,  82. 
Mentu-em-hat,  head  of,  46. 
Merenptah,  44. 
Mertitefs,  queen,  32. 
Middle  kingdom  style,  17,  18. 

statuary,  36-40. 
Min,  statues  of,  30. 
Modelling  in  pottery,  132. 
Mosaics  of  glass,  122. 
Moulding  by  pressure,  90. 
Moulds  for  casting  copper,  99, 
100,  102. 

for  glazed  ware,  118. 

of  plaster,  144,  14$. 
Mykenaean  style  of  inlays,  92. 

Narmer,  31,49. 
Naturalism  of  early  art,  17. 

later,  20. 
Necklace  fastening,  91,  fig.  109, 
93. 

Necklets  of  silver,  95. 
Negress  statuette,  43. 
New  Kingdom,  18-20. 

statuary,  40-45. 
Nofert,  head  of,  33. 
Nubian  sandstone,  27,  69. 

Obelisks,  raising  of,  77. 

transport  of,  77. 
Observation  in  early  art,  15. 
Ovens  for  glazing,  117. 


Ox-herd,  51. 

Ox,  sacrifice  of,  51. 

Pafaabast  statuette,  94. 
Painting  on  tombs,  19. 
earliest,  55. 

in  New  Kingdom,  56-60. 

light  and  shade,  59. 
Palettes  of  slate,  13. 
Palm  capital,  67. 

scenery,  4. 
Palm-stick  construction,  63. 
Papyrus  structures,  64. 

capital,  67. 
Pectorals  of  Senusert  II,  87  ; 
Senusert  III,  87;  Amen- 
emhat  III,  88  ;  Ramessu 

11,93. 
Pedubast,  140. 
Pelicans,  painting  of,  56. 
Pepy,  copper  statue  of,  99. 
Periods  of  art,  11-21. 
Pewter,  104. 
Plaited  wire  chains,  91. 
Planes  for  testing  faces,  72. 
Plaster,  142-146. 

in  masonry,  142. 

coating  statues,  143. 

modelHng,  144-146. 

castings,  144. 

moulds,  144,  145. 

heads,  145,  146. 

oiled,  145. 
Political  divisions  different  from 

artistic,  v. 
Porphyry  used  for  vases,  78. 
Portraiture,  late,  22,  38. 
Pot  metal,  103. 
Pottery,  126-133. 

forms,  126. 

decoration,  128. 

materials,  130. 


INDEX 


Pottery,  modelling,  132. 
Prehistoric  character  of  art,  12, 
13. 

statuary,  29,  30. 

reliefs,  48. 

painting,  55. 

stone  vases,  78. 

amulets,  79. 
Princesses,  fresco,  58. 
Ptolemaic  art,  21. 
Pyramid  age,  15. 

sculpture,  32-36. 
Pyramids,  accuracy  of,  81,  82. 

Qualities  of  Egyptians,  8,  9. 
Quarrying,  modes  of,  70,  71. 
Quartzite  sandstone  school,  26, 
41. 

Races,  types  of,  60. 

Rahesy,  panel  of,  ^o^  frontispiece, 

Rameses  II,  24,  25,  27,  44,  113. 

HI,  54. 

XII,  94. 
Ramesseum  arches,  64. 
Ranofer,  statue  of,  36. 
Reliefs,  quality  of,  18,  48. 

oldest,  48. 

pyramid  age,  50. 

Middle  Kingdom,  51. 

New  Kingdom,  52. 

late,  54. 

sunk,  52. 
Rock  cutting,  70,  71. 
Roll  at  corner  of  building,  63. 

Sacrifice  of  ox,  51. 
Sandstone,  Nubian,  27. 

quartzite,  26. 
Sawing  of  hard  stones,  72. 
Scaffolding  of  brick,  74. 
Scenery,  influence  of,  4,  5. 


Scenes  dominate  wall  surfaces,  3. 
Schools  of  art,  22. 
Scribe,  figure  of,  35. 
Sculptors,  training  of,  17,  77. 
Sculpture  dominated  by  archi- 
tecture and  conditions,  6. 
Seals  of  gold,  86. 
Senoferu,  16. 
Senusert  I,  37,  53. 

II,  82,  87. 

III,  38,  39,  87. 
Serapeum  pectoral,  92. 
Shells  of  gold,  86,  91. 
Sety  I,  53,  61,  113,  139. 

II,  93,  112. 
Sheykh  el  Beled  statue,  33. 
Ship,  painting  of,  55. 

building,  138. 
Shrines  of  palm  sticks,  63. 
Silsileh  sandstone,  27,  69. 
Silver,  early,  96. 

historic,  96. 

bowls,  96. 
Slate  palettes,  13,  49. 
Sleep,  position  in,  31. 
Soldering,  85,  86,  90,  103. 
Spear-head  amulet,  79. 
Spinning  metal  bowls,  96. 
Statuary,  painted,  8. 

local  art,  23. 

earliest,  29. 

pyramid  age,  32-36. 

Middle  Kingdom,  36-40. 

New  Kingdom,  40-45. 

late,  45-47. 

outlined  and  cut,  77. 
Steatopygous  type,  29. 
Steel  tools,  106. 

Stone    buildings    copied  from 
brick,  62. 
copied  from  wooden,  62. 
Stone  vases,  78. 

57 


i 


INDEX 


Stones,  moving  of,  74. 
Stucco  on  wood  statues,  33,  44, 
143.    See  Plaster, 
modelling,  144. 
Study  in  limestone,  earliest,  31. 
Syenite  used  for  vases,  78. 
Syrian  influence,  19,  66. 
Taharqa,  head  of,  44. 
Tahutmes  I,  19. 

II,  40. 

III,  19,  40,  no,  120,  129. 

IV,  148,  xvi,  fig.  139. 
Takushet  inlaid  statue,  103. 
Tapestry,  woven,  148. 

use  of,  on  clothing,  149. 
Tausert,  94. 

Temple,  circuit  wall,  65. 

of  Khafra,  65. 

of  Medinet  Habu,  66. 

of  Dakkeh,  66. 
Tin,  sources  of,  100. 

used,  104. 
Tiryns,  stone-sawing  at,  73. 
Toilet  tray  figures,  43. 
Tolstoy's  analysis  of  art,  7. 
Tombs,  early  sculptured,  16. 

later  painted,  19,  56. 
Tools  of  modern  types,  106. 
Torus  roll,  origin  of,  63. 
Training  of  artists,  17. 
Trichinopoly  pattern  chains,  91. 
Tubular  drills,  72. 
Turin  statue  of  Ramessu  II,  44. 
Turquoise  beads,  80,  85. 
Tut-ankh-amen,  42. 

Ushabtis  of  glazed  ware,  113. 
of  pottery,  132. 


Vases  of  bronze,  99,  loi. 
of  glass,  121,  124. 
of  pottery,  127-133. 
of  stone,  prehistoric,  78. 

from  Eastern  desert,  25. 


Wall    surfaces    dominated  by 

scenes,  3. 
Wax  used  for  modelling,  89, 

102. 

Weaving,  fineness  of,  147,  148. 
Wigs,  prehistoric,  30. 

put  on  over  hair,  33. 
Wire,  85,  86,  90. 

amulets,  90. 

plaited  chains,  91. 
Wooden  statues  stuccoed,  33, 
34. 

sculpture,  42. 
Woodwork,  1 37-141. 

early,  137. 

shipbuilding,  138. 

doors,  138. 

coffins,  138. 

furniture,  138,  139. 

statuettes,  43,  139. 

inlaid,  140. 

methods,  140. 
Writing,  start  of,  14. 


Youths'  and  maids'  procession, 
54- 

Zer,  bracelet  of,  84. 

linen  of,  147. 
Zeser,  glazed  tiles  of,  109. 


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